For the better part of a decade, Leprous have become something of a parody of themselves. Increasingly pop-leaning and focusing on Einar Solberg‘s voice, the band started to leave behind their once progressive writing somewhere between 2015’s The Congregation and 2017’s Malina. There is a repetitive element to the music that started on a few songs on 2013’s Coal, like “The Valley”, where Leprous‘ songs would build up pressure with Einar‘s vocals and moans accenting the builds in an effective fashion. The Congregation expanded this into a full album somewhat successfully, but afterwards, Leprous seemed to hit a dead end: the dreaded point when a once creative bands turn to simplifying everything that is great about them into something that is easier to digest. Usually, this spells death for a progressive metal band for fans of the previous style, and Leprous‘ evolution has left me with the largest sting of disappointment in this regard. What’s a disgruntled Gator to think, then, when Melodies of Atonement arrives with an album cover and preview track carrying shades of Leprous‘ early period?
Melodies of Atonement is, in short, a middle ground between the new and old Leprous. Coming off as the darker little brother of 2019’s Pitfalls, this new album continues Einar‘s focus on throbbing rhythms that started with The Congregation, the Massive Attack influence remaining intact. In contrast to Pitfalls‘ bright and airy ambiance, most of the songs here have some kind of foreboding melody that’s led by the guitars or synth while Einar offers up his usual palette of croons and wails. A step in the right direction, Einar is again using his full range of vocals instead of relying solely on said crooning and wailing, leading to some great moments across this album. “Faceless” builds up into a cheeky but inspired crescendo of a Florence + the Machine song while “Like a Sunken Ship” features the heaviest moment and vocals that Leprous has put to tape since The Congregation, including one of the most self-aware “la-la-la” sections I have heard from Einar. “Self-Satisfied Lullaby” mixes a dancing bass line with cold synths in a way that comes off like a soulful Bat For Lashes song spliced with Liturgy-style glitching sounds in the background. It’s all pop leaning, but unlike Leprous‘ previous attempts at this, they have taken care to make these moments work with the songs as a whole. In fact, a lot of it recalls Leprous‘ early albums, where songs have guitar leads or synth chords that are playfully distasteful. I’m glad to see this playfulness return and to hear an album where it feels like the whole band is present, although the guitar often takes a backseat.
Not quite committing to any of the band’s eras, I am of two minds about Melodies of Atonement. It is at once the most coherent execution of latter era Leprous while also being a flawed album. For one, the album does not flow. The first half has aggressive songs in “Atonement” and “Like a Sunken Ship” but despite that manages to feel sedate. This happens because the other songs are slowly building numbers that dwell on a single idea, a problem that repeats itself whenever things go very soft — songs that so badly want to erupt but get to that point too late. At its worst, it can feel like Leprous are still using their established sound as a starting point when they write the songs instead of working from distinct ideas, which leads to a déjà vu effect all too often. The fact that this is Leprous‘ shortest album, just shy of 52 minutes, and I still feel like they can cut three songs speaks to this. As much as I like a lot of the ideas scattered about Melodies, the road to atonement is long, and Leprous have taken only the first step.
