I must say that I was impressed from the first time by these Japanese girls, who don’t waste much time between their releases. From their foundation in 2016 they have two EPs, one live album and three full-lengths including this one. An all-female power metal band from Tokyo, who may seem cute and dress like they play pop, but they are really serious about their music. After all, they have stated in an interview “we’re not here to be cute, we’re here to be heavy”.
The successor of “Clockwork Immortality” shows from the start that it will be a different album as the band evolves and tries different stuff and approaches. We will listen to songs in their fast power metal style (“Golden Destination”, “Today Is The Day”, “When Destinies Align”, “Signs Of Deliverance”, “Swan Song”) and also epic/symphonic power moments (“Holy War”), classic heavy influences (“Raise Some Hell”, “The Unbroken”), hard rock rhythms (“A Frozen Serenade”, “Dancing With The Devil”) and an unexpected thrash metal attack (“Thunder Vengeance”, “Set The World On Fire”).
Of course, that doesn’t mean that all these sound unsuitable. Lovebites have incorporated all these different influences in their songs and the result is something that has variety but you don’t get the feeling that you listen to a different band. The leader Miho on bass with the machine gun Haruna make a strong rhythm section, Midori and Miyako give us excellent riffs and solos through a tremendous guitar work, Miyako also places her keyboards when necessary without using them too much and Asami is a singer who knows how to use the range of her vocal capabilities without wasting time on meaningless screams.
The production is great and it seems that the wolf is once more the common element in all their covers (except their first self-titled EP). The CD comes with a bonus DVD from their show in Wacken Open Air 2018. But, one negative I think is the duration of the album. Seventy minutes are a lot, even if I didn’t get tired while listening to it. The evolution of Lovebites is clear and I am curious to see what more can this band achieve.
