Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Lovebites - Battle Against Damnation (2018)
I'm quite late in the Lovebites hype. I haven't discovered this band until 10 years after they formed. Probably because by the time people started hearing of that band in around 2017/2018, when I was abandoning my earlier melodic metal taste for the more modern heavier genres. I didn't know much about Lovebites until a certain Beyond the Black hit featuring vocalist Asami that made me up for that band. I'm glad that happened because they make some of the best modern-day power metal material today!
It only took the band a year to release their self-titled demo EP and their debut album Awakening from Abyss, both of which blew my mind the first time I've heard them. And now my mind is blown away by their next 4-track 21-minute EP, Battle Against Damnation! This shall help cement Lovebites as the best band in modern-day Japanese metal.
Blasting into the past is "The Crusade" with some Maiden-infused guitar melodies. "Break the Wall" has some thrash flavor to remind some of Testament. These ladies have really paid homage to the bands they seem to admire to make something new and original. The keys in the bridge sound so beautiful, fitting well for when the drums calm down after all that fury before then.
The second half show different sides with the titles suiting each occasion, starting with "Above the Black Sea". After a neoclassical tribute to Sergei Rachmaninoff, there's more of that Euro-style power metal. "Under the Red Sky" has the right blend of intensity and beauty. The different contrasts make another masterful gem from this band.
European and American metal have been spreading over through so many countries for decades, and those bands pay tribute to both the past and the present. Because of that, metal is far more diverse than possibly any other genre, and it shows. Lovebites has helped out with the genre's massive expansion by adding in their unique sound. They have proven the haters wrong. It's a battle this band and many others have won!
Favorites: All songs especially "Break the Wall" and "Under the Red Sky"