LIGHT THIS CITY “Remains Of The Gods”
Ever wanted to know what DARKEST HOUR would sound like with a female vocalist? San Francisco’s LIGHT THIS CITY set all things metal ablaze with Remains of The Gods, the group’s first release for Prosthetic Records. Stripped free from much of metal’s grandeur, this band plays their AT THE GATES inspired music as straight as it comes. Thrashing through ten songs in just over 34 minutes, LIGHT THIS CITY forgo the drawn out intros, meandering bridges, and overall doom-and-gloom effects for something that simply rips over and over again. Of course, there’s a downside to this… Remains of the Gods could be any metal disc, by any moderately talented band, located anywhere in the world. Distinctiveness is not exactly this band’s strength. Standout tracks come from the duo “The Static Masses,” and “Guiding The North Star,” which appear towards the end of the album. Hitting just a bit faster, and more upfront, LIGHT THE CITY make these songs hard to push aside. Remains Of The Gods is a mammoth release in sound, but it falls behind in personality compared to releases by some of their labelmates, including HIMSA, REFLUX, and especially THE ESOTERIC. In other words, this album is like ordering a hamburger at a fancy steakhouse – sure, the meat will be of high quality, but it certainly is not the filet mignon.
Prosthetic
