Description
TOC Loss Angeles
Label: SPV GmbH SPV 085-60722 CD, Inside Out Music IOMCD 164, Inside Out Music IOMACD 2078, SPV GmbH SPV 800000669 PRCD
Format: CD, Album, Promo
Country: Germany
Released: 2004
Genre: Progressive Heavy Metal
Tracklist
1 The Window 4:52
2 Mary Lou Is Dead 5:22
3 Acid Highway 5:10
4 Gothamburg 6:02
5 Blue Lady 5:18
6 Wait 3:49
7 The Blue Lady Suite 1:24
8 Break-A-Neck 2:58
9 Bite The Bullet 6:42
10 Smoke On The Water 2:35
Bonus Track
11 Night Crawler 5:40
Duration 50:10
Phonographic Copyright (p) Inside Out Music
Copyright (c) Inside Out Music
Licensed From Spinefarm Records
Distributed By SPV GmbH
p&© 2004 InsideOutMusic
Made in Germany
Licensed from Spinefarm Distributed by SPV GmbH
For promotional use only!
Barcode (Scanned): 693723607221
Barcode (Printed): 6 93723 60722 1
Label Code: LC 01414
Samples: www.allmusic.com/album/loss-angeles-mw0000333313
They started under the name Throne of Chaos, but shortened their name to TOC after “Pervertigo.” Material on their first album was pretty much in the vein of Children of Bodom, but on “Pervertigo” they changed their style quite radically into some kind of thrash/power metal hybrid. On Loss Angeles, the music was progressive power metal with hints of jazz and thrash.
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A creative adventure into a musical noir. – 94%
Throne of Chaos, hailing from the icy waters and landscapes of Finland just as about three fourths of all popular metal bands do, have put out a very enjoyable album of fresh, inventive Power Metal tinged with progressive metal and theatrical, emotive bluesy rock n roll as well. The combination of that with their unmistakable Finnish polish makes for an album I can find very little fault in at all. Friendsthis is Loss Angeles.
Its just amazing how cool this is, and how I had never heard of it before when I first tracked it down late last year. Throne of Chaos, or TOC for short, apparently used to be a Children of Bodom styled band playing hyper-fluttery melodeath, and over three albums moved intowell, this. What is it? How did this blend of styles come to be? Who cares! Whatever Loss Angeles is, it is fucking cool. I just love the atmosphere on this a smoky, desolate haze, obscuring neon lights and fur-coated women and long, narrow, cobblestone streets in a thin fog. Crystalline synths mesh with the steely, razor-tipped guitars and the light croon of the vocals to create an engaging sound with a mystique that will keep you guessing and intrigued throughout its forty-minute runtime.
Vocally, Tuomas Nieminen is pretty much spot on, and although there are maybe some places the melodies he sings could be better, its a minor nit-pick at best. His rich wail carries through the wall of thick guitars with a ghostly transparency, soaring as if through a sheet of clouds. Nothing on here is ever overstated or done in a way that brings it unnecessarily to the forefront of things; everything is given perfect space and room to breathe. The songwriting is just wild, with twists around every corner, never predictable. The amount of slower songs is something I find interesting, as a lesser band would make it sound dragging, but somehow TOC keep things consistent and entertaining all the way through. Every song has a rock-solid musical hook, every song fits perfectly into place. Opening with the power metal smash of The Window, TOC waste no time in enticing the listener to hear more. With its sonorous vocals in the chorus and shimmering chords, the song sweeps you into their noir-ish world of brawls and booze and beauty an elegant task. It is followed oddly enough by a ballad called Mary Lou, which features dashing melodies and a really good chorus that will send chills down your spine. How many bands have a power ballad like this as their second song these days? I dont know; its just interesting.
One thing I really like about TOC and this album in particular is their ability to make even the most simple chords and riffs count for so damn much. This is very complex music, with multiple layers to it that need many listens to fully unravel, but they never cram in any unnecessary bullshit or come off like they dont know what theyre doing. They make simple things like the booming Deep Purple-esque riffs to Acid Highway or the dripping, eerie chords of Bite the Bullet sound enormous and relevant to the atmosphere. Witness the cold synths of Gothamburg, with its progressive structure, or the swirling, airy stomp of the melodies on Blue Lady. Even Wait, with its booming pop chords and catchy, streamlined chorus, is written with enough flair and style to become completely cool.
Murder, mayhem, drugs, illicit romance and revenge the things this album thrives on, like a leech on its host. If you dont find these themes appealing, then maybe you wont like this album, but I do, so its just like icing on the cake. They are pretty much integral to the album, as it really is a better experience when you immerse yourself in that kind of mindset, with the lyrics soaking themselves into your bones like a fine wine. Do not lose yourself in booze and drugs; listen to Loss Angeles instead, and make sure to drive all the way to the end of the highway, horns ablaze, ready to experience this album in all its wonder. Let it grow on you, as it really is worth every penny, every second of time you invest.
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Originality goes a long way – 86%
TOC have gone a long way since their early days as THRONE OF CHAOS , having released two albums under that name. Menace And Prayer (2001) was – albeit brilliantly conceived and executed, and with intelligent lyrics on top – a pretty standard ‘bodom-esque’ affair; power metal with black vocals and lots of keyboards. 2002s Pervertigo saw them moving away somewhat from the Finnish speed/black sound, incorporating a lot of cleaner vocals, this time courtesy of Dream Evils Niklas Isfelt, while the grunts were handled by newcomer Pasi Nykänen. Even then, the progressiveness of the songs made its presence clearly known. And now they’ve released Loss Angeles a moody, versatile piece of music, and the style they practised in the beginning is almost entirely gone. The band has a new singer in Tuomas Nieminen, who handles all the clean vocals, while the harsh ones (when present) are done by guitarist and band founder Taneli Kiljunen. The new album is set in the fictional city of Gothamburg, and deals with very ‘noirish’ themes such as love, murder and betrayal. One can almost smell the smoky jazz joints and visualize the dark streets of this city – the name of which, according to the band, was created by mixing Gotham City, Gothenburg and Hamburg. Hmm, strange…
The Window opens the album, it is a midtempo song that flows along nicely and gives new singer Tuomas an excellent chance to show off his abilities, which he does, to great results. This man is born to sing this kind of rock, which would be a pretty accurate description of the rest of the album as well, psychedelic progressive rock, with slabs of jazz, lounge and metal thrown in for good measure. Mary Lou Is Dead continues the story, and this is one of my favorite tracks. This semi-ballad is all that and more, making one almost want to weep during the bridge and chorus. Nieminens crooning here is enough to give you goose bumps any time. Acid Highway is, while not being overly fast, one of the fast tracks on the album, and once again TOC drench you in psychedelic rock, launching a chorus that is as effective as it is catchy. Taneli does some screamy backing vocals for this, as well. We’ll drive to the end of the highway, despite the acid within me. Strange. Gothamburg is a very slow tune, with the vocals coming off as almost shy’ in the beginning, displaying a semi-acoustic middle part, before the guitars launch into some progressive chords and the vocals pick up again. Blue Lady is an almost dreamlike piece, with swirling guitars and magical keyboards that manage to enchant you into a world where you’re not sure if you’re awake or sleeping. Another favorite. Wait starts off semi-acoustically as well, drawing you into a chorus that teeters on the edge of being overly pompous, but manages to stay on the line and deliver another catchy chorus, all the while alternating between faster and slower passages. A tune that grows on you. The Blue Lady Suite is an instrumental, clocking in on nearly one and a half minute, and really doesn’t add anything to the album in my opinion. Its ok, but expendable. Break-A-Neck on the other hand, is two minutes and fifty-nine seconds of heaven. The hardest (and probably fastest) track on the album, it is also the only one with only screamy vocals. Taneli growls his lungs out on this one, while the guitars thrash away towards the inevitable climax. More of this would have been nice! Bite The Bullet contains a LOT of different passages, so I suggest you listen to it carefully, again and again, to get the full scope. It is a slow song with lots of layers, and I’m not sure I have managed to ‘experience’ this track fully myself yet. Smoke On The Water rounds the album off, and it is exactly what you think it is: A cover of the world famous Deep Purple song, and amazingly this retake is pretty damn fresh! Smoke On The Water is not an easy tune to cover, being so simple in its structure, its almost impossible to make something new out of it, but TOC do it anyway, and the result is grand! Faster than the original, mixing Tuomass vocals with Tanelis background screams during the chorus (gotta love those!), this is a must listen! Originally only intended for the Japanese version of the album, the band loved the remake so much they decided to include it on the European version, as well.
Formerly known as Throne of Chaos and formerly lumped in with the black metal ghetto, TOC has passed through several phases of experimentation, dabbling in classical and progressive variants before settling, apparently, on a sound that comes across as a sort of prog-death-psychedelic hybrid. The band has retained its love of sonic size and heaviness, piling layers of chugging guitars on top of each other and (on songs like “Acid Highway”) alternating guttural roars with operatic, vibrato-laden cries. Elsewhere there are clear echoes of old-school King Crimson (“Gothamburg”) and moments of straight-up blissful melodic rock & roll (“Wait”). When the mercifully brief guitar showpiece “Blue Lady Suite” segues into the very dark and death-laden “Break-a-Neck,” you know you’re in the presence of something pretty unusual. Whether it’s something you want to spend an hour of your time with will depend mainly on whether you’re someone who sees the attraction of both Cannibal Corpse and King’s X. If those sound like mutually contradictory tastes to you, then you may be more befuddled than enthralled by this album.
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