Lost Resolve is the brainchild of Ov Hollowness mainman Mark R. It’s described as ‘post-rock/black metal, and there’s a lot of that going on these days; too much, as a matter of fact. I loved the Ov Hollowness releases, as my past reviews will attest, but I will admit that when I got this in my email and saw “Wolves of the Throne Room” as a tag of influence I rolled my eyes and shook my head. If I had a dollar for every WITTR clone out there that has sent me things to review I’d have a King Fowley-like record collection! That said, I popped it in and am right at this moment going through a second hearing and absolutely LOVING what I’m hearing. Just when you think there’s no advancement left for a particular genre….

Lost Resolve is Norwegian black metal at its earliest and its finest without the trappings of boring rehashing or riffs and/or ideas. The key to atmospheric ‘post-rock’ is to gather the points of entry, create the perfect scenario of bleak and discerning melancholy or dismal, all-consuming loss and channel the core of the listener to not only accept these images, but want to feel them. Les Discrets from France does it to a high degree and the same images are available here. From moments of sheer beauty and solitude into musical bereavement and trepidation, Mark creates a symbolic and lasting collective that triggers feelings of pure natural hallucination if you’re mind is so (mal)adjusted. The instrumental “Farewell” is uniquely somber and grills into your head, as it has been in mine for the third time around. As far as epic endings go, this one is one of the more memorable ones in recent memory because it truly does sound like a farewell, an oddly overlooked element for many an outro.

Well-produced and tone-intensive, this demo should make the rounds in the underground soon enough and hopefully the Wolves fanboys will see the differences, both subtle and monumental.

Nice job, Mark.       

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Lone Wolf
2.  Wasted Words
3.  Farewell (instrumental)

Total playing time:  23:13

Release Date: May 26, 2011
Label: Band Self Released

Lost Resolve - Demo EP 2011

Reviewer: Chris

June 1, 2011