Shredding apart the illusorily veiled schism applied by unseen inhuman force yields violent revulsion of the host, a dormancy shaken of its anesthetic fog and propulsed in retaliation as Phoenix, Arizona-based death metal quartet LAGO awaken for a third and most accomplished full-length album. Eight years beyond their last release but in a state of developmental rebuild since 2023 the band’s work on ‘Vigil‘ mounds signature volcanic spasming, creeping dissonance and ungainly shredding atop psychic isolation and disorder, echoing the plod of the modern post-pandemia hurled consciousness amidst growing states of psychic oppression and bewilderment. Their work here serves righteous example of “modern” death metal craft which builds upon canonical foundations with nuanced, nigh eclectic taste and years-accumulated style.

Lago mobbed-up as a quartet circa 2010 and they were always a bit more eclectic than they’d been given credit at the time. Though their first encounter (‘Marianas‘, 2011) has some obvious foundational references (Morbid Angel, Immolation) within its approach that didn’t wholly capture the blackened death, deathgrind pathos infused otherwise, not to mention they’d ended the damn thing with a His Hero Is Gone cover and somehow pulled that off. That sound’d carried directly over into their debut LP (‘Tyranny‘, 2014) where their dual vocal approach, increasing bass guitar prowess, some fresh shredding and a new drummer yielded a wall of thickly wrought death metal evolved beyond their formative era. It’d been such a packed-ass year that I’d not heard of the band at the time but I would eventually connect with their gear via their follow-up (‘Sea of Duress‘, 2018) giving favorable review of what’d been their breakthrough take unto the realm of dissonant, bleakest atmospheric death muse.

That second album aged remarkably well per my own taste, a climactic ushering into ‘Gateways to Annihilation‘-level roar and with depth approximating the insidious multi-scalar thrall of bands like Immolation and Dead Congregation. ‘Sea of Duress‘ set the general standard to expect with ‘Vigil‘ but it was the 2024 release standalone single “Millenia of Scourge” that’d more clearly indicated the path forward as a direct product of the songwriting for this new album. That singles technical and dissonant style was highlighted by extended bouts of shredding leads and twisted, fuming movement. The actual end result isn’t so squarely implicated by either path but rather both wherein the molten heft behind the band’s second album is given additional propulsion and freneticism from increasingly technical guitar work.

We are thrown into the fire from the moment ‘Vigil‘ begins as opener “Behold, Ruin” bends, grinds and rants through its brutally slithering verve before circularly cut leads and scrambling runs begin to distinguish their up-front impact. The contrapuntal clashing of the two main guitar channels on this piece is already a marked sophistication of past efforts as the spectacle of their churn only intensifies into something quasi-Demilichian (esp. beyond the ~3:41 minute mark) as the sway of the piece ramps toward a solo or two. The opener likewise showcases the leaps made in the production values beyond the likewise self-produced scratch of “Millennia of Scourge” (via 2nd and now 4th drummer Brian Miller who’d played on ‘Tyranny‘, too) wherein we find an enriched bass guitar presence, heftier layering of the main rhythm guitar channels and a relatively organic yet still unreal space occupied by the drums. This sound would work for most any dissonant/technical death metal band but uniquely serves the pure death metal foundations of Lago.

Following the band’s snaking unfurl via the opener “Fodder” follows up with what should be an obviate enough observation from any existing Lago fan, they’ve cranked the technical aspect of their sound without losing the steaming mud of it all. Past releases were already pulling off some wild machinery in the past but this third album rarely risks a moment of downtime or droning simplicity, opting for nuanced and oft sauntering movement which supports leads/soloing that verges on neoclassical shred at its peaking shape. Even if you’d rather a weirder, messier style of lead (which wouldn’t line up with ‘Sea of Duress‘ follow-up anyhow) the balance of moderne death metal standards applied here never quashes the foundation of their efforts, only whips it closer to the Gorguts spectrum a la labelmates Altars or Auroch.

The Ancient One enjoyer within couldn’t have been sated here without at least one Azagthothian indulgence and the opening to key single “Initiation Rite” expends that energy in spectacular fashion ’til the piece takes on a sludged-out, esoteric warp as it carries on. Per my experience this was the great energizing force that’d kept the momentum of the full listen up, a strange recalculation of the best parts of ‘Heretic‘ given to dissonant interjection and militant barrage which only steeled my attention heading into the second half. From there the passage into the great diabolic whirlpool of fire that is “In a House of Ill Repute” acts as their apex point of conveyance, an even more dissonant-shot opus heavy on the shred which (lyrically) centers upon alienation within a corrupted societal system. The piece reads as a progressive enveloping of the senses, a panicked resignation which (as I’d said when premiering the song) echoes the intensified writhing felt as the album roars toward its grand finale.

Lago probably could’ve dropped the mic right after “In a House of Ill Repute” and I’d still be satisfied with the listening experience but those who’d enjoyed the fiery minutiae afforded the album thus far will find even more inspired excess on the road to the end. “Kingdom Without Pulse” almost feels like it were pulled from the early-to-mid 2000’s when bands like Nile or Krisiun (or Polish equivalents) were pushing infernal aggression alongside an uptick in technical death. The way they’ve hammered through the song and cut proggy leads over it won’t be for everyone but the riffs themselves fit will enough within this more aggressive Side B. The closing piece (“The Land Was a Desert”) pushes the pace even harder and deserves to be experienced as closure sans further suggestion.

Though I would never suggest that extreme metal as a phenomenon benefits from the greying effect of “balance” there is some praise due Lago for how well they’ve metered ‘old school’ adjacency, moderne dissonance, slugging gloom and fiery technical wail in a way that feels both related to their legacy and bigger than, or, cumulative beyond what came before. In any case ‘Vigil‘ entertains for the sake of its wildly aligned craft which swells with intrigue on the path through and does the finest job yet of representing the eclecticism inherent to their seeming traditionally stoked entity. A high recommendation.

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