«That tiny space in time and the feeling that lives inside it. The Last Second».
Three members, five compositions, 40 minutes of a great instrumental album. Their Methlab is a rock trio from Athens, Greece (formed at Ioannina city back in 2011) and “The Last Second” is their first full album that shows remarkable consistency, a sign that they put a lot of effort here and worked hard for long time (their first EP was released 6 years ago).
Most compositions are near/over 9 minutes long but you never get tired by them although Their Methlab are clearly not a band that wants to show off with prog riffs and rhythms. On the contrary, they choose to build slowly each track via repetitions that of course are followed by one or two crescendos. I must admit that there is a specific pattern through out the album, which may leave some listeners wanting more (eg. some surprises).
They are melodic enough while they construct a cinematic vibe with no need of endless layers of keyboards, just the guitar of Michalis, the bass of Dimitris and the drums of Nikos. They also add some psychedelic elements and at some point they don’t hesitate to become more heavy (“golden bond of ambition”) and in general they show respect to post rock/metal hybrid with some simple yet characteristic melodies so it doesn’t really matter if they keep distortion high or low.
The album recorded at their studio (BlackBox Studio) and was mixed/mastered at Unreal Studio offering a proper sound but they also packed it up with good artwork (the cover is really nice on vinyl). Now, I have to take it with me on a road trip from Athens to Ioannina…
