Oh Lantlos, what the hell happened? Lantlos is a german black metal and shoegaze band that has made some pretty good records. The last couple of albums, were very interesting I thought. We had elements of Post metal/Shoegaze and some elements of black metal as well, and we even got some really well done screams from Alcest main man Neige. This time around, Herbst has taken the reigns to work on the album almost entirely by himself, except for some session musicians. I was really looking forward to this album after the last couple, and the first single released from the album Azure Chimes was a pretty decent song, albeit not what I was expecting at all. Sadly, that is really the best thing the album offers, and its downhill from there very quickly.

When listening to the aforementioned Azure Chimes the first thing that becomes apparent to me are the vocals. I knew Neige was not going to be on the record, but I did not expect a completely cleanly sung track/album. The vocals are ok. I don't feel any emotion from them, and they are pretty monotone, but they are decently pleasing to the ear most of the time. The music on the album stays within the shoegaze style, and is really pretty dull. The second track Cherry Quartz (and yes, most of the song titles have some sort of color in the title) is the longest track on the album kills any momentum that Azure started. At nearly 10 minutes, we spend the first half of the song listening to an uninspired, meandering sections of sounds and some guitar. Once the rest of the instruments kick in, the song picks up some steam. The vocals are, again, pretty but just there. The music is repetitive, but better than earlier in the song. Near the end of the song, the music changes a bit, and some of the background sounds are kind of nice, and there is a pretty decent riff, but the song takes way too long to get to anywhere interesting, and everything before the good parts really make the song a chore to get through.

Aquamarine Towers is the third track, and second longest. I think the idea o putting the two longest tracks this early on the album (especially when there is no need for them to be that long) really hurts any flow this album could have. As for the song itself, it starts off better than the last. There is an interesting riff, but once again, it takes a couple of minutes to get to it, and what precedes and follows it is not that worthwhile. I don't really know what to say about the song honestly, It's mostly instrumental, and At least it's not the same riff for the entire track. It does change, but it never gets much better. It really is just there, and doesn't grab me in any way. Our next color, Jade Fields, is another song that just takes too long to get going. It almost seems like all these songs are made to have 2-3 minute intros of music that is uninspired. Once the song really starts, with the vocals and rest of the instruments, it's not too much better. The vocals are again just emotionless, and he music even goes into a bit of a djent sound (a term which I hate but seems appropriate here). Overall, the song is a step above the prior two tracks, but not by much, and that really is not saying too much either.

The final two tracks include an interlude and an actual song. The interlude Oneironaut is the only non color named track, and I think the title fits. The song does sound like a dreamscape to me, however, I do not know if there is any real traveling or progression in the track. It is really just a near 3 minute track of background noise you could fall asleep to. The final track, Golden Mind continues the dream inducing sounds from he prior track, but adds some vocals. Aside from Azure earlier in the album, this is the only other songs that does not feel like it has an intro before going into the song. However, the track never picks up steam, and the only real change in the song is the volume of the background synths picking up and drowning out the music. If there was ever a single sound I would call white noise, this is it, and It is entirely unneeded, and unwanted.

I don't know the purpose of this record. After the last two albums, the band had something good going for them. The albums were not classics, but I feel they stood out among bands of this style. With Melting Sun The band abandoned any thing they had that made them different and are just a dull, uninspired version of something you've heard before, and has been done much better. The album does sound good production wise, there is the "wall of sound" that the style of music is known for, and the clarity is really nice. The music itself, on occasion, is pretty, but there are too many sections that do not need to be here. The vocals will put you to sleep, and the overall album has a really choppy flow and seems there was not much thought put into this. I do not mind change in a band, but this is change for all the wrong reasons, with even worse results. I have a hard time here, because nothing is really "bad" or unlistenable, it's all just very, very dull and everything here has been done better by other bands. However, Azure Chimes is a pretty decent track, and easily the best on the album. Sadly, I feel it is the only song worth listening to, which you can do here.