A Band: Lost Soul

Lost Soul is listed as a technical death metal band on Metal Archives, but I'm not so sure that's accurate.  Yes, their music is technical, but it's just as accurate to simply label them as what they are - a Polish death metal band.  When I say "Polish death meal," what springs to mind?  Probably Vader, maybe Hate, maybe mid-era Behemoth...precise, supercharged death metal that takes a little bit from Florida and Sweden.  Early Lost Soul is predominantly blasty.  2000's Scream of the Mourning Star is an excellent debut, and it might as well be your starting point.

Personally, my favorite Lost Soul material can be found on 2005's Chaostream, which was their third long player if you're counting at home.  It's marked by seismic riffs that hit without warning (see "Godstate" to hear what I'm talking about).  Blastbeats are still excessive, but by this point, the band had found their inner groove.  Melody be damned, a song like "Shameless Race" piledrives its way into your brain.  2009's Immerse in Infinity is sonically epic, and it actually served as my introduction to Lost Soul.  Layers upon layers of lead guitars compete for your attention.  "...If the Dead Can Speak" is a killer track that climaxes with an expansive solo.  There are moments that could be confused for nu-metal, and they wouldn't work on any other album.  But they work here.

I know I already said that Chaostream was my favorite of the bunch, but between you and me, it's a toss-up.  Immerse in Infinity is just so massive.  2015 saw the release of Atlantis: The New Beginning, which currently stands as Lost Soul's final hour.  It's definitely their weakest effort, as everything sounds too massive.  It tries to be "high concept," but it collapses beneath chaotic guitar work and odd chanting.  Don't let that deter you from checking out Lost Soul, though.  Honestly, Chaostream is a sleeper pick, as it may be one of the strongest post-2000 death metal albums to come out of Central Europe.  Yep.

I thought I would end up typing a novel's worth of panegyric praise, and I probably still could, but I'll cap it here for the sake of brevity and sanity.  Lost Soul is listed as active, so maybe we'll get something new in the not-too-distant future?  Question mark???

Blood Capsule #281

EVE OF DESTRUCTION (1991)

In the last year or so, I've tried to broaden my horizons a bit.  What does that mean?  In terms of Blood Capsules, it means more science fiction.  Teenaged Dom (who is becoming a recurring character, it seems) would have strolled right past Eve of Destruction in the video store.  Of course, I probably would have been in the horror section anyway, but that belies my point.  I'm finding that there is a wide range of sci-fi nuggets that are wacky enough for my idiosyncratic sensibilities.  I'm also finding that "wacky" is a prerequisite in my household.  I mean, it's the perfect adjective for a film that pits Gregory Hines against a Terminator-esque android.  Why Gregory Hines?  No, I'm asking.  Why was he chosen to play a callous, hard-boiled colonel with the vocabulary of...well, Teenaged Dom?  That's not a compliment, by the way.  Hines gives it the old college try.  I don't know that he failed necessarily, but I was having a tough time buying him as a John McClane type.

I've gone and buried the lede.  This is a cool, energetic "action thriller," and yes, it hurt typing those words.  I won't let it happen again, though I concede that this is definitely not a horror flick.  It does come close enough for my purposes, as I like to say.  We do see some moist gore in the way of bionic intestines.  Speaking of which, Renée Soutendijk gives a cracking performance as both Eve and her all-too-human architect.  If there was any justice in this world, she would have received an Oscar nomination for her services rendered.  But there isn't, so she'll have to settle for the dinky praise of an online critic.  Eve of Destruction goes down smooth if you're in the market for brisk entertainment.  Having said that, I can see why it flopped in the States (it bypassed theaters altogether overseas).  It certainly won't light your VCR on fire.  I'm thinking 3.5 Z'Dars.  Recommended if your video store doesn't have copies of T2: Judgment Day.  Yeah, I'm still running with the VHS gag.  Call it a gimmick.