Light This City - Stormchaser (2008)

There's something decidedly anticlimactic about an album whose creators have already parted ways by the time it arrives on record store shelves, and this turned out to be the case for Light This City "Stormchaser" their fourth long player and, as it turned out, also their last. At least the San Francisco melodic deathsters made their swan song count, though, by concocting a very solid new batch of reliably violent, yet surprisingly catchy headbangers like the evocative title track, the fleet fingered neo-thrasher, "The Anhedonia Epidemic" (reminiscent of At the Gates), and the particularly memorable "A Desperate Resolution" (boasting even more guitar licks to die for). Light This City also have an amazing knack for sweeping guitar harmonies, a quality they share with Sweden Arch Enemy, along with having that all too rare female frontwoman (Laura Nichol) capable of roaring as fearsomely as any man, and they're not afraid to use it, as displayed on additional standouts like "Beginning with Release" and "Sand and Snow." Obviously, much like Light This City previous albums, Stormchaser music menu isn't all that unique, per se, and certainly anything but cutting edge, but in a genre often ruled by brawn instead of brains, their focus on writing songs one can generally remember after five minutes is not to be underestimated. And in order to mark their final farewell with a few special treats, the group brought in "Testament" legend Chuck Billy to trade vocals with Nichol on the pulverizing thrasher "Firehaven," and the Funeral Pyre John Strachan for "Collector Part 2: Donor." With all this going for it, it's no wonder that Prosthetic Records chose to release, rather than shelve Stormchaser forever, when Light This City decided to call it a career; a career to which it can now provide a very respectable epitaph.

Band: Light This City
Album: Stormchaser
Genre: Death Metal/Thrash/Speed Metal
Country: San Francisco, California, United States
Release Date: Nov 11, 2008
Label: Prosthetic Records

"Tracklist"

01. "Stormchaser"
02. "Fragile Heroes"
03. "The Anhedonia Epidemic"
04. "Beginning with Release"
05. "Firehaven"
06. "The Collector, Pt. 1: Muse"
07. "The Collector, Pt. 2: Donor"
08. "A Desperate Resolution"
09. "Wake Me at Sunset"
10. "Bridge to Cross"
11. "Sand and Snow"
12. "Self Portrait"

Stormchaser ♪♫

Light This City - Facing the Thousand (2006)

Facing the Thousand is the third album from San Francisco outfit Light This City and the group second for Prosthetic Records, which is quickly seeing its faith and investment repaid by bandmembers whose rate of improvement nearly matches the pace of their playing. After a majestic orchestrated synthesizer intro, the title track opens proceedings at a characteristically ferocious clip, democratically representing the so called New Wave of American Heavy Metal with elements of death, thrash, metalcore, and even a little black metal, if you listen closely enough. Outstanding vocalist Laura Nichol is largely responsible for the latter, in fact, as she spit rasps lyrical venom betwixt her more guttural deathly growls throughout the ensuing mayhem. All the while, her bandmates seek to shine a little light amidst the suffocating darkness via some Gothenburg-flavored harmonies that elevate the likes of "Cradle for a King," "The Unwelcome Savior," "Maddening Storm," and "City of Snares" (reminiscent of Sweden the Crown) to highlight status. On others, such as "Exile" (borderline power metal, minus the clean vocals, and featuring a rare, deliberate finale), "The Eagle," and "Tracks of Decay" (both of them copycats of In Flames and At the Gates), that same melodic insistence respectively becomes almost too distracting and rather derivative, so there's obviously a limit for everything. Also, the slightest hint of repetition does set in after about half a dozen of these, mostly full-throttle blast beaters, even though, pound for pound, they're still far more distinctive and engaging than the inexplicably more popular Black Dahlia Murder, whose vocalist, Trevor Strnad, actually guests on the (you guessed it) savagely one dimensional "Fear of Heights." All things considered, by the time Facing the Thousand thrashes to a finish on the furious blastbeats of "Like Every Songs Our Last," it's apparent that Light This City could still do with a little more consistency and originality, but they clearly have a head start on most of their direct competition this side of the Atlantic, whether consumers have realized it or not.

Band: Light This City
Album: Facing the Thousand
Genre: Death Metal/Thrash/Speed Metal
Country: San Francisco, California, United States
Release Date: Sep 19, 2006
Label: Prosthetic Records

"Tracklist"

01. "Facing the Thousand"
02. "Cradle for a King"
03. "The Unwelcome Savior"
04. "Exile"
05. "Maddening Swarm"
06. "City of the Snares"
07. "The Eagle"
08. "Fear of Heights"
09. "Tracks of Decay"
10. "Like Every Song's Our Last"

Facing the Thousand ♪♫

Light This City - Remains of the Gods (2005)

Light This City arguably came into their own with this release, which, coincidentally, was also their first album for Prosthetic Records, by striking upon the two pronged formula that would characterize their particular mix of melodic death metal henceforth: velocity and bombast. The first permeates every song so completely and compulsively (as indeed it would on every one of the band albums) that their inexorable intensity would simply overpower the senses without the second timely punctuations, which really help to give shape and temper emotions during standouts like the opening title cut, the excellent midsection riffs of "Obituary," and the brilliant Gothenburg-style staccato picking of "The Hunt." Kudos, too, to vocalist Laura Nichol, who compensates for her relatively indistinct (though always impassioned) death growl with thoughtful lyrics like those of "Letter to My Abuser" and "Your Devoted Victim," which address matters of mental and physical cruelty from a refreshingly female point of view, at least in the macho world of heavy metal. But a distinctly weaker second half, marked by more of the same über thrashers and an unimpressive instrumental conclusion unwisely named "The Last Catastrophe," proves that Light This City still needed a little more experience and maturation to make their inspiration match the boundless energy and physical stamina displayed from start to finish on albums such as this.

Band: Light This City
Album: Remains of the Gods
Genre: Death Metal/Speed Metal/Heavy Metal
Country: San Francisco, California, United States
Release Date: May 17, 2005
Label: Prosthetic Records

"Tracklist"

01. "Remains of the Gods"
02. "Obituary"
03. "A Guardian in a Passerby"
04. "The Hunt"
05. "Letter to My Abuser"
06. "Fractured by the Fall"
07. "The Static Masses"
08. "Guiding the North Star"
09. "Your Devoted Victim"
10. "The Last Catastrophe"

Remains of the Gods ♪♫

Light This City

A speedy thrash metal band with death metal overtones, Light This City are primarily notable for being one of the only bands in their chosen style with a female lead singer, the dynamic and impressively leather-lunged Laura Nichol. Formed in San Francisco in 2002 while several members were still in high school, the original lineup of Light This City consisted of Nichol on vocals, guitarists Tyler Gamlen and Steven Shirley, bassist Mike Dias, and drummer Ben Murray. This lineup recorded Light This City's debut, The Hero Cycle, but by the time the album was released on the Reflections of Ruins label in the fall of 2003, Gamlen and Shirley had been replaced by Brian Forbes and Steve Hoffman. That lineup of the band signed to the respected metal indie Prosthetic Records for their second album, 2005's Remains of the Gods. Further lineup changes followed after that release, with Dias replaced by Jon Frost and new rhythm guitarist Ryan Hansen taking over for Hoffman. Light This City's third album, Facing the Thousand, was released in the fall of 2006.

The Hero Cycle

Band: Light This City
Album: The Hero Cycle
Genre: Death Metal/Heavy Metal
Country: San Francisco, California, United States
Release Date: 2003
Label: Prosthetic Records

"Tracklist"

01. "Apostate"
02. "Picture: Start"
03. "Give Up"
04. "Parisian Sun"
05. "Cold"
06. "Laid to Rest"
07. "Sierra"
08. "No Solace in Sleep"
09. "The Weight of Glory"
10. "Next to Godliness"

The Hero Cycle ♪♫