{"id":14342,"date":"2025-03-31T03:26:56","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T07:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/?p=14342"},"modified":"2025-03-31T03:29:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T07:29:00","slug":"review-lament-through-the-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/31\/review-lament-through-the-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Lament – Through the Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From the Vault Review
<\/strong>Lament – Through the Reflection<\/p>\n\n\n\n


When one thinks of melodic death metal, generally the first bands that come to mind are the famous Gothenburg three – In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and At the Gates; for Christian metal fans, the Finnish act Immortal Souls also comes to mind (as an aside, it\u2019s pretty cool that Derrick Vella of Canadian retrodeath titans Tomb Mold gave them and their album Under the Northern Sky<\/em> a shoutout on the podcast Into the Combine<\/em>). But Lament, a Mexican death metal act that formed out of the ashes of brutal death metal act Beheaded in the late 90\u2019s, are probably not the first band one thinks about. To be sure, Beheaded\u2019s sound gave little indication of the melodeath direction the band would take. And despite the acoustic guitars and softer, reflective passages heard on their debut Tears of a Leper<\/em>, the Demilich-esque vocals of original vocalist Marco Perez, grinding guitars and frantic drum blasts bore little in common with the sounds of European melodeath at the time (1997). But it was Lament\u2019s second album, Through the Reflection<\/em>, that really amped up the melodic side in a way that I have yet to hear on any other album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Reduced to a power trio with longest-standing band member and drummer Abel Gomez taking over vocal duties as well, Through the Reflection<\/em> decidedly backs off of the heaviness of their debut, replacing it with an intricate sense of layered melody (surprising, as the band pics show two of the three members wearing Crimson Thorn shirts!). Where other melodeath albums soar, this album grooves. Where other albums expand into epic sonic landscapes, Through the Reflection<\/em> turns inward, emphasizing introspection, longing and loss. Where most melodeath records emphasize twin guitar harmonies and leads, the bass guitar here takes centre stage. As a bassist myself, it\u2019s refreshing to see that bass guitar can function in a leading role like this. To be sure, Mortification\u2019s bass guitar was more often than not a prominent fixture in the music, standing out above the guitars at times, but Lament (specifically bassist Iram Gomez) bring it to a whole new level. On Through the Reflection<\/em>, the bass focuses on high, clear, trebly notes that dance above the foundation of the rhythm guitars below. The more violent drum work on the band\u2019s debut is replaced by, dare I say it, danceable, rhythmic grooves that are entirely bizarre to hear on a death metal record. And yet, it all works. It shouldn\u2019t, but it does. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eclectic is the operative word here; indeed, the smorgasbord of different stylistic elements going on here is something else. The lead guitars on \u201cCome Near\u201d are reminiscent of those heard My Dying Bride\u2019s The Light at the End of the World<\/em>, giving the song an epic, doomy feel. The melancholic, autumnal acoustic guitars on \u201c1250 Dead Without Reason\u201d totally remind me of a specific section heard on \u201cThe King of the Shadowthrone,\u201d a track off of Norwegian black metal band Satyricon\u2019s album The Shadowthrone<\/em>. Last track \u201cTears\u2026Instrument For Reflection\u201d boasts beautiful female singing by an unnamed vocalist more in line with what one might hear on a Draconian or The Sins of Thy Beloved record. And Abel Gomez\u2019s strained, hoarse shouts stand in stark contrast to Marco Perez\u2019s bowel-shaking gutturals, sounding more akin to Chase Mason of Gatecreeper. While his near-histrionic style on here can be grating, the juxtaposition of it with the melodic approach makes for an entirely singular listening experience. What\u2019s even crazier is the catchiness of it all; many times, I\u2019ve found myself humming the bass line that\u2019s front and centre on the title track simply because of its earworm qualities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Lyrically, the band focuses on the theme of suffering, loss and adversity and finding peace in the mercy and love of God. If the album were to have a central message, it seems to me founded on Psalm 51:10-12: \u201cCreate in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.\u201d Pain of heart is a constant theme, but this pain is always replaced by hope – \u201cYour mercy walks by my side, My song is victory over death\u201d (\u201c1250 Dead Without Reason\u201d) and \u201cHis hands heal scars of sin, Old man lift your eyes, Your heart again begins\u201d (\u201cRoots of Wind\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you can tell, Through the Reflection<\/em> is a real mix of different stylistic elements.
What\u2019s even more incredible is how Lament manages to blend it all together into a cohesive whole rather than a Frankenstein\u2019s monster of styles all grafted together. At no point does Through the Reflection<\/em> sound like the work of a band unsure of what it wants to do or what direction it wants to take. Sometimes, the brutality can wait (and later albums like The Ancient Battle of the Saints<\/em> definitely re-iterate that Lament can absolutely crush when they want to); Through the Reflection i<\/em>s something refreshingly different. It may not be for everybody, but I
dare you to find another album like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


For Fans Of: Your guess is as good as mine on this one! Closest I can reckon are Mortification, and earlier Pantokrator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Vault ReviewLament – Through the Reflection When one thinks of melodic death metal,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":14343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1020],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review"],"yoast_head":"\nReview: Lament - Through the Reflection - Heaven's Metal Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/31\/review-lament-through-the-reflection\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Lament - Through the Reflection - Heaven's Metal Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From the Vault ReviewLament – Through the Reflection When one thinks of melodic death metal,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/31\/review-lament-through-the-reflection\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Heaven's Metal Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HeavensMetal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-31T07:26:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-31T07:29:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/hmlamentcover.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jason McLaren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jason McLaren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/31\\\/review-lament-through-the-reflection\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/31\\\/review-lament-through-the-reflection\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jason McLaren\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/257fd67dce6c440e6cc10a6961cc88a2\"},\"headline\":\"Review: Lament – Through the Reflection\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-31T07:26:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-31T07:29:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/31\\\/review-lament-through-the-reflection\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":911,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/31\\\/review-lament-through-the-reflection\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/hmlamentcover.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Review\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/31\\\/review-lament-through-the-reflection\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/31\\\/review-lament-through-the-reflection\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/31\\\/review-lament-through-the-reflection\\\/\",\"name\":\"Review: Lament - 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