The Kiss, the Hope

Last updated
The Kiss, The Hope
The Kiss, The Hope Lengsel.jpg
Studio album by
Released2006
Genre Progressive metal, [1] experimental metal, [1] [2] sludge metal
Length46:33
Label Whirlwind
Lengsel chronology
Solace
(2000)
The Kiss, The Hope
(2006)

The Kiss, The Hope is the second full-length album by Norwegian metal band Lengsel, released on Whirlwind Records in December 2006. The album was a stylistical change on the band's musical direction, representing more of a sludge metal style.

Contents

Recording

After the release of Extol's The Blueprint Dives and the following tour, Ole Halvard Sveen, Tor Magne S. Glidje and John Robert Mjåland returned to their Lengsel project six years after Solace and began work for the second album. During 2006, the band set up a Myspace profile where they hinted that they would take a more garage rock and hardcore punk oriented direction while keeping some elements of their black metal roots. Announcing an initial working title of Hell Calls Hell, the band released videos from the studio and sound samples, one of which was accompanied by a short video for "Angels in America" with footage of an old photograph. With a release date set for December 2006, the band announced the official title as The Kiss, The Hope, signed to German-based Whirlwind Records, and shortly after published a trailer for the upcoming music video for "The Pale People" which was released a few months later.

Sound

Musically, the album represents mostly a sludge metal style such as on "Hell Calls Hell" (featuring Ilkka of Benea Reach) and "A Little Less to Heal". "Åndenød – The Easy Kill" consists of industrial noise sounds and "Tales of Lost Love" is jazz-influenced, while "The Pale People" is a gothic rock or post-punk song reminiscent of The Cure with Robert Smith type vocals and echoed, dark guitars.

Reception

According to AllMusic, The Kiss, The Hope was "less positively reviewed" than Solace. [3] However, critics such as Stefan Lang of PowerMetal.de gave it favorable reviews and called the album innovative.

Track listing

  1. "An Anonymous Phone-Call and a Dead Line" – 8:03
  2. "Hell Calls Hell" – 3:53
  3. "Miss S.C." – 3:49
  4. "Ådendød – The Easy Kill" – 1:55
  5. "Tales of Lost Love" – 5:29
  6. "A Little Less to Heal" – 4:51
  7. "Eternal Seven" – 2:26
  8. "The Warm Water Chaseway" – 3:23
  9. "Angels in America" – 3:01
  10. "The Pale People" – 6:04
  11. "Avec Toi" – 3:31

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Experimental and progressive metal from this Norwegian hard metal band". Cross Rhythms . 7 June 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  2. Hallila, Tim (July–August 2007). "Lengsel". HM Magazine (126): 24. Archived from the original on June 20, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  3. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Lengsel". AllMusic. Retrieved 2007-11-20.

Related Research Articles

Thrash metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo. The songs usually use fast percussive beats and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead guitar work. The lyrical subject matter often includes criticism of The Establishment, opposition to armed conflicts, and at times shares a disdain for the Christian religion with that of black metal. The language is typically direct and denunciatory, an approach borrowed from hardcore punk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sum 41</span> Canadian rock band

Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and most recently consisted of Deryck Whibley, Dave "Brownsound" Baksh, Jason "Cone" McCaslin, Tom Thacker, and Frank Zummo.

Solace, from Old French solas, from Latin sōlācium "consolation", meaning comfort or consolation in a time of distress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venom (band)</span> English heavy metal band

Venom are an English heavy metal band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1978. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, Venom's first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), are considered major influences on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. Their second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the black metal genre; as a result, Venom were part of the early wave of the genre, along with Mercyful Fate and Bathory.

A number of heavy metal genres have developed since the emergence of heavy metal during the late 1960s and early 1970s. At times, heavy metal genres may overlap or are difficult to distinguish, but they can be identified by a number of traits. They may differ in terms of instrumentation, tempo, song structure, vocal style, lyrics, guitar playing style, drumming style, and so on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hank Williams III</span> American musician, singer, and multi-instrumentalist

Shelton Hank Williams, known as Hank Williams III, is an American musician, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his fusion of traditional and honky-tonk country music with rockabilly and punk rock. He was the drummer of hardcore punk band Arson Anthem, and bassist of Phil Anselmo's band Superjoint Ritual. He has released eleven studio albums, including five for Curb Records.

Sludge metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, tuned down guitars and nihilistic lyrics discussing poverty, drug addiction and pollution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Holkenborg</span> Dutch musician and composer

Tom Holkenborg, also known by his stage name Junkie XL or occasionally JXL, is a Dutch composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, and engineer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neurosis (band)</span> American avant-garde metal band

Neurosis is an American avant-garde metal band from Oakland, California. It was formed in 1985 by guitarist Scott Kelly, bassist Dave Edwardson, and drummer Jason Roeder, initially as a hardcore punk band. Chad Salter joined as a second guitarist and appeared on the band's 1987 debut Pain of Mind and then Steve Von Till replaced him in 1989. The following year, the lineup further expanded to include a keyboardist and a visual artist. Beginning with their third album Souls at Zero (1992), Neurosis transformed their hardcore sound by incorporating diverse influences including doom metal and industrial music, becoming a major force in the emergence of the post-metal and sludge metal genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discharge (band)</span> English punk band

Discharge are an English hardcore punk band formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The band is known for influencing several sub-genres of extreme music and their songs have been covered by some of the biggest names in heavy metal and other genres. The musical sub-genre of D-beat is named after Discharge and the band's distinctive drumbeat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowbar (American band)</span> American sludge metal band

Crowbar is an American sludge metal band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1990. The band is fronted by vocalist/guitarist Kirk Windstein, Crowbar's sole constant member. Through infusing a slow, low-keyed, brooding doom metal sound with the aggression of hardcore punk, they pioneered a style known as sludge metal – albeit Windstein admitted a mild dislike to the term – alongside other bands of the New Orleans heavy metal scene such as Eyehategod, Soilent Green, Acid Bath, and Down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The 69 Eyes</span> Finnish rock band

The 69 Eyes is a Finnish rock band. It was founded in 1989 in Helsinki by vocalist Jyrki 69, guitarists Bazie, Timo-Timo and bassist Archzie, joined in 1992 by drummer Jussi 69; the lineup never changed since then. The 69 Eyes music blends gothic rock with glam metal and rock 'n roll in a style that was dubbed "goth 'n roll".

<i>Houdini</i> (album) 1993 studio album by Melvins

Houdini is the fifth studio album by American rock band Melvins, released on September 21, 1993, by Atlantic Records. The album was the band's major label debut after releasing their previous albums through the independent label Boner Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grim Reaper (band)</span> British heavy metal band

Grim Reaper were a British heavy metal band from the new wave of British heavy metal era. The band was formed in 1979 in Droitwich, England, by guitarist Nick Bowcott, and there have been numerous lineup changes over the years, with frontman Steve Grimmett being the longest running member, from 1982 to 1988, then 2006 until his death in 2022. They are best known for several of their 1980s songs, including the respective title tracks from their first three albums: See You in Hell (1983), Fear No Evil (1985) and Rock You to Hell (1987); each of those songs gained notoriety in the 1990s for appearing on Beavis and Butt-Head. After disbanding in 1988, the band reformed in 2006 around Grimmett, and due to legal issues surrounding the rights to the original band name, they went by Steve Grimmett's Grim Reaper. Two albums under that name were since released: Walking in the Shadows (2016) and At the Gates (2019).

Lengsel was a progressive black metal band that formed in 1994 in Norway. They released one album, called Solace, on Endtime Productions in 2000, which was subsequently licensed to Solid State Records for an American release. The second album The Kiss, the Hope was released in 2007. Their name means "longing" in Norwegian; the idea of longing for home is a prominent theme on their debut release.

<i>Monument Bineothan</i> 2006 studio album by Benea Reach

Monument Bineothan is the first studio release by Norwegian metalcore/mathcore band Benea Reach. It was released in Europe in July 2006 on Tabu Records. It was released in the U.S. on 20 March 2007 through Candlelight Records. The album was nominated for the 35th annual Spellemannprisen in the Metal category.

<i>Solace</i> (Lengsel album) 2000 studio album by Lengsel

Solace is the first full-length album by the Norwegian metal band Lengsel. Solace initially was released on Endtime Productions as a digipak edition in 2000. Around this time the vocalist and guitarist was also a bass player for fellow Norwegian band Extol, who had at the time become an immensely popular band on the American label Tooth and Nail Records' imprint Solid State Records. Label owner Brandon Ebel licensed Solace for Solid State, marketing it with stickers on the album cover stating that it includes members of Extol. The album was also licensed for the German label Black Sun Records.

<i>There Is a Hell Believe Me Ive Seen It. There Is a Heaven Lets Keep It a Secret.</i> 2010 studio album by Bring Me the Horizon

There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. is the third studio album by British rock band Bring Me the Horizon. It was released on 4 October 2010 by Visible Noise. The album was produced by Fredrik Nordström and Henrick Udd at IF Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden, with additional work at Sunset Lodge Studios in Los Angeles, California. It features guest vocals from Canadian singer Lights, British singer Josh Franceschi, and American vocalist Josh Scogin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarch (band)</span>

Monarch was a French doom metal band from Bayonne, formed in 2002.

Tor Magne Glidje is a Norwegian guitarist in Extol, Ganglion and Longing, a.k.a. Lengsel, where he is also the lead singer. He was also a part of Benea Reach. He is now playing in the band Mantric.