Lord Vigo Walk the Shadows (Swamp Green)

High Roller Records, ltd 350, 425 gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert; Epic doom metal masters Lord Vigo from Germany will issue their sixth full-length album in May 2025 on High Roller Records. Following the highly-regarded »Danse de Noir« (2020) and »We Shall Overcome« (2022), which formed part one and part two of a trilogy, the new work »Walk The Shadows« is not connected to this concept. "»Walk The Shadows« stands on it's own and is not part of the trilogy", explains drummer, vocalist and keyboard player Vinz Clortho. "There is no coherent concept this time around, not a specific plot. These are all individual songs. It was quite a change for us after two very elaborate concept albums, and it was fun." Songs like "Through A Glass Darkly", "Servant Of The Dark" or "The Triumph Of The Killing Heart" evoke some sort of Gothic Horror feel. If you delve into »Walk The Shadows«, you will find a pretty eclectic mix of epic metal, gothic rock and post-punk, with traces of Sisters Of Mercy, Fields Of The Nephilim and even The Cure. "I would agree", says Vinz Clortho. "The album combines several different styles to create something entirely new. My roots are in classic metal which means that the songs on the new album, which are definitely leaning in a dark rock direction, have taken a life on it's own. I am not aware of a single album even vaguely sounding like »Walk The Shadows«. I just don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." "'Walk The Shadows' is going to be the leading single, " continues Vinz. "We are also shooting a video for that. Apart from that, every song stands on it's own and therefore it's hard to single out specific tracks. Obviously, with a playing time of twelve minutes 'El Hakim' is not only the longest track on the album but also the most atmospheric. That's another favourite of mine." "Stylistically, the new album surely is some kind of leap for us, " confesses Vinz Clortho, "but this is exactly the reason why I think it could be a defining album for the band. There are bands writing the same record over and over again. But that's not us. With Lord Vigo every album sounds different. We are leaving our comfort zone here. Commercially this might not make sense. But we don't care. It's great to be successful. But we would like to be successful on our own terms. In some places I am singing a whole octave below my normal register. And that worked surprisingly well. It's one reason why the album now sounds as it sounds."