Laster are from the Netherlands and this is their début album.
I’m a fan of Laster’s first release Wijsgeer & Narreman so was looking forward to hearing this. The quality album cover was the first thing I liked, and the music soon followed.
Laster play raw, underground, atmospheric Black Metal that’s epic in length and epic in scope.
The band seem to play from beneath a shroud of distortion and hazy guitar fog. The drums and vocals swim just beneath the surface, prowling like unnatural predators seeking the souls of the weary and weak.
De Verste Verte Is Hier is less about individual riffs and more about dark feelings evoked by the instruments that howl and gust like the wind. Laster create dark sonicscapes of reverberating nightmares and ever-present darkness.
Atmosphere is a big part of Laster’s identity and they wield it like a weapon. Desolation, despair and negativity are commonplace, but less common are the little rays of hope that occasionally pierce the gloom, such as on the main starting riff of Tot de Tocht ons Verlicht.
These are not songs to idly listen to, these are songs to experience.
For fans of bands like Vinterriket, Fell Voices, Ash Borer and the like.