Lamassu – Made of Dust

 

 

Lamassu – Made of Dust
Self-released – 2023
Rock, Grunge, Stoner, Alternative, Doom
Rated: ****

“Exploring themes of death, loneliness, greed, failure, and redemption, ‘Made of Dust’ is sonically vast; from deep, heavy riffs, to moments of quiet introspection and soaring vocal harmonies, all complimented with brooding and thoughtful lyricism.” When a band knows so perfectly how to describe their own album, you know it’s been a labor of love, of commitment and of absolute necessity. For that is exactly what Made Of Dust, the new Lamassu album sounds like. The Melbourne, Australian four deliver their new full-sized album with a zealous energy and intent. And show once again that the lockdown period wasn’t all bad at all. In fact, going through the eleven track Made Of Dust record shows that some turned their imposed solidarity into an echo paradise. Mostly written during the pandemic, the band shot ideas and rough demos back and forth before committing to finalizing them after the lockdown ended. The result are nine dense and dirty tracks and two interludes that feel like they are used to bite back into what came before. In all you get 1 hour and 8 minutes full of intense grunge, stonerrock, alternative rock and all with this doom inspired toning. Heavy on all fronts. Listening to the album, you can’t forgo the definite influences of both Soundgarden and Jerry Cantrell, in phrasing, color and rhythm choices. Never turning them into anything other than Lamassu however, it’s simply there and offers that more insight into how the band grew together as they worked on these songs. It is kind of easy to single out third track Shit Town, Misery as a favorite, but that would miss the excellent lead up to this relatively faster track. For even though opening track Battle Cry makes the Lamassu intentions known from the start, there is a bit of a wavering delivery … or so it might feel. But as you will find as Washed Away commences, this seems deliberate to make that second track and its returning guitar lines, feel so intricate, dense, and swirling. Which, by the end of that track will feel like you are slowly syphoned off into a maelstrom. The punch and pounce delivery of Shit Town, Misery is therefor extra powerful and mammoth, but also feels like a lifeline towards an unsafe shore. Where you will not be able to sit and rest for long, cause the rest of the album is filled with more genius songs that even though they are mostly in the same tempo, feel exciting and dangerous. And yes, part of that is without any doubt, the voice of Chris Fisher, that serves as the great connector. Well, together with the overall sound, which is dark, compact, sorrowful, and introspective. The most surprising part of the album is perhaps the fact that this more than an hour long heavy and intense record, has me returning to it over and over again, longing to submerge myself in this world of dust…

(Written by JK)

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