German goth-rockers Lord Of The Lost add glimmers of hope to the sea of shadow on chapter two of their gloomily ambitious OPVS NOIR trilogy.
Two and a half years since coming last in the grand final of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, the victories have begun to rack up for Lord Of The Lost. Crashing the main stage at last year’s Download Festival and thrilling a huge crowd at this summer’s Bloodstock, the Hamburg goth-rockers are establishing themselves as legitimate big game players. The combination of loveable campiness, stomping mid-paced listenability and killer eyeliner make them seem a little like spooky cousins to Sabaton – and the second act of their sprawling OPVS NOIR suggests similar ambition.
Released at the height of summer, Vol. 1 was far from a perfect record. Expanding the overblown goth-glam template with big-budget orchestration and haunting choral flourishes, as well as roping in Within Temptation’s Sharon Den Adel, it was the sound of a band gunning for arenas but still searching for the dynamite track to break through. Vol. 2 doesn’t deliver that game-changing hit either, but its lighter touch and hip-swinging attitude confirms they’re on the right track.
Would You Walk With Me Through Hell, for instance, featuring Infected Rain’s Lena Scissorhands, feels like an absurdly overblown combination of Nightwish, Lamb Of God and Cradle Of Filth. The chest-thumpingly seductive One Of Us Will Be Next comes on as if the aforementioned Sabaton were throwing down with HIM. Sprawling closer Sharp Edges, meanwhile, is a frostbitten epic perfect for the heart of winter, achingly engineered to have massive crowds huddling up and singing along.
It’s where Lord Of The Lost lighten up and really embrace their poppier sensibilities that OPVS NOIR Vol. 2 is at its absolute best. Please Break The Silence, with Exit Eden’s Anna Brunner, sounds like Lacuna Coil at their most anthemic. Weirdo, synth-laden, turbo-ballad Scarlight is as gleefully OTT as its title would suggest. And joining forces with Finnish rapper/fellow Eurovision alumnus Käärijä for the glorious Eurotrash nonsense of Raveyard hits hard enough to get the dead dancing.
It’s fuel to keep fans’ fire burning through the dark months, with more than enough promise packed in to leave everyone hanging on for how they cap it off on the climactic, trilogy-closing Vol. 3.
Verdict: 3/5
For fans of: HIM, Lacuna Coil, Creeper
OPVS NOIR Vol. 2 is released on December 12 via Napalm
