There are those times when you feel like you are looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Like when you start searching for a metal band that is more than the sum of the many and moribund clichés of the genre. A band like Loko, for example, who, despite the expected macho posturing, have a barely concealed fondness for melody.
Don’t get me wrong. Their album, Breaking The Silence”, features neither poetry nor moments of quiet reflection. Quite the contrary for, lyrically at least, this Polish band are about as subtle as your average American band. “Lie”, for example, could be any other competent metal act polishing their sword on the sharpening stone of relentless power chords and barely restrained aggression. However, on many of the other songs on this album, you can feel Loko stretch themselves and use their musical abilities to greater effect. “Czas” is a fine example of this with the song gaining an epic, some might even say sing-along, quality through the simple devices of slowing the tempo and upping the emotional content in the vocals. The same approach is equally effective in lifting “Little Man” up above the crowd.
Loko’s fondness for melody probably won’t win them many friends amongst hardcore metal fans but the rest of us will be glad of the accessibility that said melodic abilities bring.
The album is available from Bandcamp as well as the usual download sites.