Lara Korona – Land Unter

Now and then you are impressed again by a new post screamo / post hardcore record. Lara Korona didn’t step in the pool of uninteresting bands that float the scene nowadays. ‘Land Unter’ (their first proper album after a Demo and split 12” with Johnny Futuro) is a focused record full of massive sounding screamo that builds up slowly and ignites in the end.

I love the dramatic undertone in the work, together with the underlying ‘X-factor’. It makes a band awesome or average when they don’t have it. Immediately in “Mykorrhiza” and “Deux” the strategy of Lara Korona pays off. Due to the screaming vocals in the end of “Fest” and in “Land Unter”  it’s like old Cult of Luna is mixing their dark and heavy tones with noisy sounding screamo. Lara Korona and the Swedes share the same way to build up songs and finally erupt in climaxes.

The raspy screaming sounds if this guy means it and I am sure he throws in his complete body and soul to give the listener all he got. These vocals and the heavy downtuned riffs are in great contrast with the sharp melody lines (those typical ones in screamo!). It basically sums up the frame Lara Korona is operating in. If you manage to create catchy songs within that frame you are a band that must be heard. Listen to the last song “Rast Und Einbruch” and discover how great the melody line is, matching with the screaming at the end of this song.

The dark and heavy atmosphere is also made visible in the photographs on the front and back cover of the LP. The front cover has a black & white photo from above towards a cloudy winter landscape, somewhere between hills and a forest. The back cover is also made from above and shows us a road in snow through the forest. I like these stylistic covers that visualize the moody music very well. It also makes it worth your money to pick up a physical copy instead of being stuck with a download…

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