末裔 / The Last Successor - 末裔 / The Last Successor (2010) - Love at first sight with Chinese progressive metal - 98% (18/12/11)

The Chinese metal band The Last Successor delivers great epic progressive metal with power and folk influences. I found their debut record by pure coincidence and consider myself as a fan right now. This band surely merits a larger focus and not only because they are exotic. Their music is really professional and elaborated. The music is diversified but still filled with straight riffs and catchy piano melodies. The vocals are exotic but never oout of place and powerful. The production is quite good and the box set of this record is very beautiful, too. This is a beautiful gem I would like to purchase if I have the occasion to do so.

From the amazing introduction called "Roots" on that mixes floating Tangerine Dream vibes with traditional Chinese folk sounds and score orchestrations worthy of an epic movie, the album drowns us into a very profound atmosphere.

The band delivers a perfect cinema for your mind and your ears from then on. "Way Back" starts with sounds of rifles and machine guns reminding me of Savatage's "Of Rage And War" or even Godsmack's "Straight Out Of Line". The track quickly becomes a very epic gothic track with growls, sharp riffs and also very melodic clean vocals that are surprisingly solid. Even though the song has some power metal elements, it always sounds dark and the vocals are not high pitched at all. The Chinese lyrics fit surprisingly well and don't sound out of place at all. The track has small progressive breaks that keep the tension and attention of the listener on a high level. In comparison to other bands with progressive elements, this band doesn't need endless shred guitar solos to do so but uses inoffensive keyboard sounds that create a bombastic atmosphere.

The great thing is that the band keeps this high level all over the record. "Abyss" has sharp and almost thrash riffs and starts with a pumping bass line. In contrast to this, folk elements can be heard in the beginning and the chorus is very melodic without sounding cheesy and used. The songs manage to be diversified but only in the details as they sound coherent and easy to digest.

From almost commercially orientated half-ballads such as "See Jasmine Again" to heavier tracks with epic passages and vocals somewhere between J-Rock, Gothenburg melodic death metal and Nu Metal as we can hear it in "The World", the band manages to play many different styles in a perfect manner and also has the ability to make the whole thing sound coherent and structured.

The band even gets better and better on this record. Even though there is not a single bad song on the record I must point out "Behind Lies". It's maybe the strongest track on here. It is a very harsh track with some modern elements. Powerful gothic and death growls meet hectic keyboards sounds reminding me of Dream Theater. This song is completely unpredictable with its sound effects, weird heavy riffs and an outstanding guitar solo.

In the end, this is the first Chinese metal band and album I have ever listened to and it really leaves me wanting more. My copy of this record is ordered by now and I can't wait to hold this precious gem in my hands. This is by far the greatest surprise and best album I have listened to in a while. I somewhat hesitated to give this record such a high rating but as it really impressed me and I'm sure it will even grow on me I honestly think I don't exaggerate in here. Be sure to check this out if my review awoke some interest in you as the album can easily be found online.