Let’s face it. Innovation is hard. Today, it’s arguably harder than it’s ever been. In wake of so many breakthroughs and revolutions already behind us, it seems that reinventing the wheel is nigh impossible.
That being said, this is not a sermon to cast fire and brimstone upon new and inspired musicians, quite the opposite, in fact. While reinventing the wheel is more unlikely in this day and age, it can be of near and equal importance just to keep the wheel moving, that is, to take an idea, a tradition, a genre, and do it really, really well, with sincerity, authenticity, and genuine passion.
This brings me to the album at hand, Lucid Scream’s self-titled release, which, from what I’ve heard, keeps the wheel rolling better than most any album I’ve listened to this year. Crammed with driving riffs, stellar guitar melodies, and solos aplenty, Lucid Scream is more than an excellent tribute to classic hard rock and metal albums: it’s a solid addition to the pantheon of great releases that already exist in the genre.
If you love your metal loud and melodic, with righteous chops being displayed by all musicians at hand, then this album is the album for you. Keep it rolling, friends.
-Andrew Oliver
