2008 Woodie Awards
Lost Horizon Busts Out
Geoffrey Manzi
Issue date: 4/10/03 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Lost Horizon's new album, A Flame To The Ground Beneath, was released in early February. With either little or no press backing it, had it not been for the urging of a friend I would have never known of its existence.
However, this is not to say the album does not deserve some sort of critical recognition. The supreme precision in which the band plays their rather technical music demands argument of the contrary.
A Flame To The Ground Beneath opens up with a smorgasbord of digital effects echoing back and forth like waves crashing down upon the listener's eardrum, only to recede again due to the pull of the tide. This lasts for a little over two minutes. Then, beneath the waves of studio-produced digital mastery, the roll of a snare drum can be heard breaking the calm of the storm. The sound of the snare drum cues the onslaught of all things soft and peaceful, only to replace them with sheer melodic, hardcore music.
One may think this segway into the album's second track, titled "Pure", would clash due to the great difference in sounds. Yet, it only increased the drama, adding to the magnitude of power created by the thick arrangement of dual guitars, bass, drums, and the unexpectedly weighty influence of the synthesizer.
Although an unlikely ingredient in a metal band, it helps bring out the melody that would otherwise be buried under the crunching guitars and thunderous drums. This is best exemplified in track eight, "Highlander", as well as in the brief instrumental "The Song of Earth", my personal favorite.
Led by melodious and reverberating notes drawn out by the synthesizer, this song sews together various dissonating tones. The result is an intensely interwoven fabric of harmonies found nowhere else on the album.
It was as if this song were to act as an intermission for the head banging, bass heavy rock acts in between. Other standout tracks include the pummeling declaration "Cry Of a Restless Soul" and the sloshy, sappy power ballad sanctioned "Lost In The Depths Of Me". Judging by both the metaphysical cover art and the conspicuously philosophical lyricism, the concept of the album is that of one's pursuit for ultimate purity and truth.