I’ve been listening to Ben Nominent’s music for a long time. About twenty years ago, my brother-in-law (at the time) introduced me to Sybreed, and I was blown away, to say the least. Ben’s voice was the primary reason for that. Then Ben returned with his Lucifer Ascending project, which only produced some singles, but was fantastic nonetheless. Nowadays, he goes by Ben DMN and he’s started a new band called Locus Noir. Their debut Shadow Sun released through Listenable Records on February 27th.
Locus Noir is a passion project and it really shows. The lineup here is Ben DMN on vocals, Claire Genoud on guitar, Ales Campanelli on bass, and Ben Marmier on drums. But wait, this album features one more Ben, that being Ben Christo of Sisters of Mercy as a guest on one track.
The band plays gothic metal circa the 1990s. It really is that simple. The band commit themselves to the sounds, tones, and themes for which so many hold deep nostalgia, including me. So, what we have here is shadowy, accessible gothic rock/metal in the vein of HIM, Type O Negative, Paradise Lost, Katatonia, Lacuna Coil, and more.
Ben delivers clean vocals, no harsh on this project, which I think is appropriate. I’m a huge fan of his harsh vox; in fact, he’s probably the first harsh vocalist I liked, and he opened a whole new world of music to me. Here though, it’s cleans only, with a certain 80s-90s accent twist that I think is purposeful. We also get hyper melodic guitars, so melodic that sometimes they sound like keys, but also sometimes dark and heavy. To be sure, there are some keys here, but I don’t know who plays them.
The album has thirteen tracks and lasts almost an hour, so this is pretty damn substantial. It flows consistently, too, from the spooky atmospheric “Walpurgisnacht 1996” onwards. In the first half, my favorites are the single “Cemetery Youth”, which sounds like a HIM song to me, being lush and melodic; “A Dismal Romance”, which has some meaty riffs and a chorus that real hits hard after you hear it a couple times; and “Thicker Than Darkness Itself”, with its towering guitars that sound terrific.
In the second half, I really like “Death, That Elusive Mistress” with its heavier sound and awesome guitar solo; the single “Hollow”, which probably has the catchiest, most addictive chorus on the album; and “Reburial”, the longest song at just over six minutes. This piece has some ambient portions that work perfectly, like swooning through a darkened void. It’s gorgeous.
I did notice that streaming services have two more tracks than the version on Bandcamp. I’m not sure why. The bonus tracks are “Marry the Night”, which is slightly cheesy, I think, which is probably why it was cut. I like it well enough. The other bonus is “How Harsh is the Light of Dawn”, which is slower and works great as a closer itself. Both are rock solid.
Locus Noir has a great debut here. I would love to see them grow and evolve from here, but Shadow Sun itself is a catchy nostalgia trip in a subgenre that doesn’t see much love nowadays. It’s also great to hear Ben’s voice again. Fans of dark music of any stripe should check out this album.
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Find Locus Noir online:
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