Lasting Traces are a young band from Southwest Germany. I saw them live for the first time a couple of months ago. They played as the first of 4 bands. I hadn’t been to a hardcore show for some time but even so I’ve never been so blown away by a band that I didn’t know and not even had heard from like Lasting Traces. So I was very curious to see how the songs would work on a record.
“Portraits” is a 5 song EP and the follow-up to the Demo that came out in 2008. The record starts with a short intro before the first song really begins, and how it begins! With a very powerful groove and beautiful guitar melodies, reminding me maybe of bands like More than Life or In Remembrance, or Dead Swans (bands, I’d name as a reference for those who want to know). The melodies are something that shines through all the songs and gives them a thickness, which combined with the rhythm-section’s work, creates a lot of energy. However, the songs get an extra push if a second vocals or even “crew shouts” are added (e.g. In October), making the songs even more catchy and strong.
Lyrically, the songs are rather of a personal nature, very desperate and emotional, about being lost and searching, which fits very well with the music…
“Portraits” is an impressive first output of a young band. The only thing I have to criticise is the song “Blank Refusal”: They have this awesome build-up, with the band screaming “I die tonight” over and over again, and I was just waiting for them to tear everything down afterwards, but then the song abruptly stops. Ok, maybe that would have been too obvious, but every time I hear that song I can’t help but wonder how it would might have worked out. Nonetheless, a very good first EP.
