Editorial Evaluation: Leprous - Pitfalls

Editorial Evaluation is a column where the editor of this lovely blog, Sam, crawls out of the woodwork to tackle a particularly notable release with a review that hopefully provides a deeper level of insight than your average consumer appraisal.

Leprous are an interesting band, to say the least. After years of shifting lineups and promising demos, the Norwegian group finally solidified and released an impressive debut in 2009 in the form of Tall Poppy Syndrome. This album’s sound consisted of an intriguing blend of death metal, jazz and classic prog which more closely resembled Ihsahn’s solo material than anything else. This makes perfect sense, as the group's founder, vocalist and keys player, Einar Solberg is the brother-in-law of the Norwegian metal legend himself, and they would gain prominence in Europe as Ihsahn’s live backing band and consistent opener during the early 2010s. Leprous of course used this newfound momentum and released two phenomenal prog metal records back to back with 2012’s Bilateral and 2013’s Coal. 

Bilateral saw the group honing their songcraft and learning to balance the fine line between melody and fist-pumping heaviness over 10 engaging pieces of great sonic variety. It is one of the few gilded recipients of an Angry Metal Guy 5.0 perfect score and for good reason. Coal was similarly strong and further showcased the group’s artistic evolution by presenting catchy and engaging hook-centric songs that each evolved and climaxed perfectly; all while maintaining their careful blend of aggressiveness tunefulness. At this point in time, Leprous had cemented themselves as modern prog metal mainstays and the collective prog metal community waited with great anticipation for their next masterpiece.

2015 gave us The Congregation, which many fans viewed as a disappointment. The band still retained their signature songwriting style which had been honed over their short discography but featured simpler “verse chorus verse” song structures and an ever-growing reliance on Einar Solberg’s angelic falsetto to produce sufficient ear-wormy hooks. I personally view it as the strongest Leprous album, as it offers a delicious salmagundi of the band’s ever-present pop-sensibility and their prog metal roots, and leverages the sparse sinister moments to create gargantuan climaxes. Seriously, the pinnacles offered by the penultimate moments of “Slave” and “Moon” are legitimately amazing, but I digress. I can certainly see how this shift in style could come as striking to long-time fans, but it felt consistent with the group’s logical sonic progression. 

It makes perfect sense then, that on 2017’s Malina, Leprous threw away all notions of being a prog metal band and released an indie-pop record, but a damn good one at that. It utilized the aforementioned elements and intricacies of the band’s sound and appropriated them for the context of a very direct rock album. The album reeks of solid craftsmanship and makes great use of Solberg’s vocal prowess and the then-new addition of a dedicated cellist to create deserved moments of clarity amongst radio-ready hooks and soul-searing climaxes. As to be expected, many fans of the original, metal-friendly Leprous were once again disappointed. Gone were the heavy Norwegians that embraced the darker side of prog, replaced with an impressive group of musicians who instead placed their focus on songcraft and utilized the vast soundscape of their former genre to do so. If anything, 2019’s Pitfalls fits firmly within this context and produces reasonable results.

As with all of their releases, Pitfalls is expertly written and performed. Each song oscillates between mellow verses and powerful choruses that build toward a characteristic emotional zenith. However, the sonic palette of Pitfalls is markedly more subdued than their other records, even in comparison to Malina. Many of the songs are built around straightforward percussion loops, complete with sparse synths and an elegant cello for Solberg to rest his seraphim melodies upon. These softer sections generally give way to bombastic guitars and louder dynamics which either land a stunning hook or hit home a poignant climax. 

Yet, despite the relatively simple song structure and instruments on display, each track is filled with subtle instrumental flourishes that reward repeated listens. Take single “Alleviate” for example; the song opens on a simple synth loop, which soon gives way to a mellow vocal melody. The track gradually builds, adding hushed percussion and restrained guitar flourishes until the final chorus erupts with Solberg’s impassioned falsetto towering over appropriately punchy guitars for a stunning climax. The song resembles a contemporary pop-piece far more than the prog metal Leprous of yore.

Many of the 9 tracks on Pitfalls follow this permutation in one way or another, but many also forgo the thrilling climaxes that marked the band’s earlier work. For the most part, they’re executed with a song-writing maturity and grace which speaks to the band’s experience. “I Lose Hope” uses this formula for a moody synth ballad, accented by engaging cello lines and interesting vocal harmonies. “Observe the Train” is markedly similar but comes across as a little bland. Despite being well-written and performed, these tracks don’t quite produce anything especially alluring over their runtime. On the other hand, “Distant Bells” utilizes this new Leprous blueprint possibly greater than any other track. Like any great piece of climax-focused music, it expertly leverages its sizeable length to deliberately build towards yet another immense sonic apex, easily the strongest on the album. This track stands as a testament to the possibility of their new sound and the pairing of the band’s signature “ah’s” and “oh’s” with their novel appreciation of sonic texture makes for an album highlight.

“By My Throne” and “At the Bottom” fall a bit closer towards traditional alt-rockers, but have a jocular, Leprous spin. The former weaves in and out of dense cello/synth lines underneath dramatic vocal melodies, punctuated by luscious guitar licks. The latter is also quite strong, and accomplishes something similar, with Solberg’s aforementioned falsetto deftly maneuvering a constantly shifting rhythm section. It also comes packaged with a considerable musical climax, so I can’t really complain. “Foreigner” doesn’t fare quite as well. Incredibly straightforward, it manages to tick every box of standard alt-rock cliches. The clunky chorus on display “it’s a fight to stay alive, it’s a fight against myself” seems to drone on endlessly despite the track’s sub 4-minute length. 

That leaves us with opener “Below” and closer “The Sky is Red” which - ironically enough -showcase the two aural sides of Leprous beautifully. “Below” is a great example of a chorus-focused track that clearly borrows from the group’s heavier past while maintaining the songwriting chops they've developed over time. The track’s use of cello is particularly stunning and certainly elevates its anthemic chorus. “The Sky is Red” is fantastic for an entirely different reason, as it could stand in for nearly any track from their metal era, but most closely resembles something from The Congregation. The cut is driven by an odd-time guitar riff that beautifully ebbs and flows across its 11-minute runtime; weaving deftly through ravishing verses, dazzling hooks and a truly malevolent ending that perfectly takes advantage of the track’s build and prevailing motif. To put it bluntly, it features the classic Leprous sensibilities and executes them in a wonderful fashion to make for a clear frontrunner on the tracklist.

While Pitfalls is undoubtedly a finely crafted album, the sense that Leprous could be applying their impeccable talent and years of hard-earned experience to something more outstanding cannot help but permeate the release as a whole. While there are true standouts that employ the band’s latest sonic developments to great effect, I still don’t believe these cuts manage to eclipse past hits such as “The Price” or “From the Flame” in that regard. The band has consistently been at their best when merging impressive technicality (half of the members are former session musicians) distinctly off-kilter grooves and heavier timbres with pop sensibility in a masterful way that placed them at the forefront of modern prog. With the exception of the one actual prog metal track, none of the material on Pitfalls manages to fulfill that promise. 

What makes this discussion all the more difficult is the fact that Pitfalls as a record is wholly compelling. Metal - and specifically prog - has a long and storied history of gradual to sudden changes in artist’s signature sound over time and Leprous have made that transition far more gracefully than Opeth’s Heritage or even The Contortionist’s Language. For many groups, the criticism that their older material is stronger than whatever comes after their natural artistic evolution feels lazy, but with Pitfalls, the band practically proves this point with “The Sky is Red.” The lone track that relies on their older style feels stronger than the rest of the album.

In taking a quick look at the writing credits for this record, the band’s resident operatic demigod  Einar Solberg is attributed solely to penning every number with the exception being “Distant Bells.” Here, the problem arises. Solberg has always been the group’s primary songstress, but over the course of their career, he has slowly taken on more and more of that responsibility. While not necessarily a bad thing, Pitfalls is practically a Solberg solo album. This makes a great deal of sense, as nearly every track is structured primarily around his vocals. Unfortunately, it seems the group has ultimately suffered from this creeping change, as despite being quite strong in its own right, Pitfalls is arguably Leprous’s weakest release since Tall Poppy Syndrome. 

Pitfalls is a solid record with an exceptional listening flow, packed with adroitly assembled tunes that sound immaculate in a pristine mix. I enjoy this album immensely and I’ll be sure to catch the band live whenever they play anywhere in my greater vicinity, but their 2019 release ultimately fails to live up to the incredibly high standards of the Leprous catalog and leaves behind the lingering sense that a collaborative prog metal release would be assuredly more potent.

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Final Verdict: “The change won’t be radical, it’s gradual”

Favorite Songs: “Below,” “Distant Bells,” “The Sky is Red”

- Sam Graff