Lord Vigo: We Shall Overcome

"Epic Doom Metal" is the subgenre pot that Lord Vigo seem to have been tossed into, and I don't totally get it. Now, I've never heard the band's other releases, but upon repeated listens of their newest album We Shall Overcome, I'm not sure that's an apt descriptor for Lord Vigo. It's certainly epic (and even doomy in spots), but this to me has way too much old school/traditional metal grit and gothy synths to merely be pigeonholed into one category. There's way too much pomp, melodies, and brisk tempos to lump them in with a Candlemass, for example. It's got a wild vibe about it; futuristic synths and sci-fi interludes meet desolate, barbarian landscapes in We Shall Overcome. It's pretty rad.

As the second album in a yet to be completed trilogy, We Shall Overcome is dark and bleak thematically, but there are triumphant (and ominous) melodies provided by both guitars and keyboards alike. As mentioned previously, there's a certain goth/futuristic edge to the keys that mesh really nicely with the melodic and stompy riffs on the album. The bass is loud as all hell, and super trebly to boot, which just adds to the whole "late 70's sci-fi novel cover artwork" feel of everything. One potentially polarizing aspect of Mr. Vigo is vocalist Vinz Clortho, who largely sounds like King Diamond at peak levels of mid-range warble. It works for me, as unique or eccentric sounding vocalists tend to excel in epic metal roles.

The majority of the songs are fairly brisk (hence my reluctance with the "doom" tag), but things do slow down quite a bit on more than one occasion. On songs such as album closer "A New Dark Age", Lord Vigo are putting their feet on the brakes a bit, but still hover around a tempo that's just enough for sufficient headbanging. All of this nit-pickery about genres and classification brings me to this: none of what I've said previously about those things matters. Lord Vigo bring the goods on We Shall Overcome no matter what you want to call them or classify them as. The band's melodies and atmospheric soundscapes work so well within the framework of old school epic metal that everything just flows and swirls with a spacey and occult sense of majesty. It's hard to pick highlights, but the marching "A Necessary Evil" probably works well in conjunction with the previously mentioned "A New Dark Age" to show you the band's strengths.

We Shall Overcome is an album that brings some really cool and unique futuristic sci-fi elements to a style of metal that usually finds itself firmly planted in the barren cliffs and landscapes of barbaric sword and sorcery themes. Lord Vigo have delivered a compelling and truly interesting album here, and I think a release like this should certainly please the fans of Atlantean Kodex or While Heaven Wept, while also possibly being a good gateway band into the epic (doom) metal scene as a whole.

Tracklist:
1. Blessed Are the Meek
2. The Heart of Eternal Night
3. Natural Habitat
4. Since the Sun Was Young
5. From Our Ashes We Will Rise
6. A Journey to Eternity
7. We Shall Overcome
8. A Gathering of Clouds
9. A Necessary Evil
10. 1986 (Book 1: The Vision)
11. A New Dark Age

Added: July 21st 2022
Reviewer: Brandon Miles
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 607
Language: english

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