Bilateral
Forced Entry keeps finding another way to move. A guitar figure changes its rhythmic setting, a vocal melody opens a different space, and the band bring those ideas together without exhausting the energy already in motion. It is the clearest demonstration of the imagination that makes Bilateral such an involving record.
Leprous have a broad musical vocabulary here, but the attraction is more immediate than a list of styles suggests. Einar Solberg's voice can carry a substantial melody through an awkward instrumental pattern, and the rhythm section keep the unusual turns physically engaging. The arrangements leave room for both a strong hook and something less easy to predict.
The title track introduces that personality in a relatively compact form. Its changes feel assertive, establishing a band comfortable with making a song's shape part of its appeal. Forced Entry then expands the possibilities over ten minutes, connecting several memorable vocal ideas with a developing instrumental movement. The quieter break creates useful space before the later groove gives the music another source of momentum.
Mb. Indifferentia provides a gentler entrance. The restraint allows a darker feeling to remain under the surface, and the singing has enough character to sustain attention before a more imposing sound becomes necessary. Its position is valuable because the album's restless imagination needs more than one emotional speed.
Thorn takes a more abrasive route. Ihsahn's guest voice gives the song another kind of intensity, while the instrumental changes allow that force to remain connected to the band's broader progressive language. The different sounds do not always arrive gently, but the transitions usually have enough purpose to avoid feeling like isolated tricks.
The sheer number of ideas can occasionally make a smaller musical thought difficult to hold on to. Even so, the performances have a strong sense of direction, and the vocal melodies repeatedly give the ear something firm to follow through the changes.
Bilateral makes adventurous heavy music sound full of possibility. Its best pieces are distinctive because the band understand how a memorable phrase can become more powerful when its surroundings change. Forced Entry is an exceptional example, but the same curiosity gives the whole album its unusually vivid character.
