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Dark Of The Night

    
       
       
       
     
             
Lokheira are a power metal band from the USA formed in 2022, releasing their debut album 'Dark Of The Night' in 2023.    
             
Founded by George Mavroudis (bass), Irene Ramaglino (vocals) and Rob Ramaglino (drums, guitars, vocals). Lokheira are a real family affair featuring husband and wife Irene and Rob, his brother-in-law George, and a guest guitar solo from his brother Josh. The new album consists of eight songs across a lengthy fifty four minutes, seven of them based on the Seven Deadly Sins - pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. The eighth song (and album opener) 'In The Dark Of The Night' was written by Irene after she dreamt of the melody, waking up in the middle of the night during the dream to write the lyrics! Talk about the different ways songwriters get their inspiration - 'In The Dark Of The Night' bringing the album to life with a tension fuelled and highly anticipative aura, the band wooing listeners with a sultry one and a half minute swagger! And then BOOM! All fucking hell breaks loose as 'In The Dark Of The Night' hits you right between the eyes with a barrage of howling and scowling vocals over a backdrop of heavy hitting heavy metal - 'Dark Of The Night' well and truly on its way...    
             
...to unravelling the Seven Deadly Sins song by song - 'Undying Hubris (Pride)' portraying an even bigger swagger than 'In The Dark Of The Night'. Lokheira mesh elements of doom, death, and traditional metal into their power metal roots - although at this early stage, I would say the bands "power metal" tag isn't exactly spot on! For if you were looking for a Blind Guardian, Helloween, Powerwolf kinda sound, you ain't gonna find it here - I'm gonna stick with what I said earlier, "doom, death, and traditional metal". The band float effortlessly across the different metal territories to bring a genre hopping boundary breaking brand of music to the masses!    
             
Even the epic and glory styles of heavy metal get their moments of fame, the album picking up pace courtesy of 'Avarice (Greed)', Lokheira marching forth with more impetus than either of the two previous songs - and I'd have to say also, the first indicators of power metal ooze outta the American three piece, along with a power driven nature that ups the intensity four-fold! 'Battle Of The Hot Gates (Gluttony)' opens with a mighty hymn-like flavour, proceeding to assume a rabble rousing anthemic feel, all the while pounding the ground with immense force, shaking buildings and crumbling walls. I tell ya, the emphatic nature of the album so far has been immensely up front and in your face.    
             
Hitting with all the oomph of a jackhammer smashing concrete, 'False Remedies (Lust)' moves the albums sound in a more destructive direction, Lokheira romping through the valley of progressive metal too, the bands desire to deliver a multitude of metal styles to please a myriad of metal fans producing an all consuming listening experience! An experience that's grabbed attentions from the off and never let go - 'Wasting Away (Sloth)' featuring a whole new, and different sound than everything heard up to this point! Adding a melancholic feel that you'd normally associate with Grunge, the band also take an alternative route through metal territory, 'Wasting Away (Sloth)' displaying two vocalists too! And even an early Whitesnake bluesy rock feel - the band stretching their musical horizons further and further the longer 'Dark Of The Night' runs.    
             
Is there no style of metal the band hasn't shown yet? Well thrash and industrial spring to mind, but that really was meant to be a rhetorical question, as the shortest song on offer 'The Beast Within (Wrath)' enters the fray. Clocking in at five and a half minutes in length whereas every other song sails past the six minute mark, 'The Beast Within (Wrath)' displays a level of aggression not heard before, along with some growled vocals and a little thrash metal savagery! And bringing the album to a close, 'Malignancy' (Envy)' is eerily atmospheric, and may scare a few listeners with its slow build up and menacing meander, hitting hard after a minute or so with a tonne of groove and a ferocious foot stomp heavy enough to knock planet Earth of its fucking axis!    
             
Overall, an intricate journey through many metal styles, 'Dark Of The Night' is a mind bending and intense listen.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Metal Gods TV    
             
             
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