LOSA - The Perfect Moment - Metal Blade Records 2005
9 Songs
Running Time: 40:39 

From the unexpected birthplace of Dallas, TX, LOSA is Metal Blade's first entry in the We Have Found The New Mastodon contest that seems to be plaguing the genre. Even going so far as to compare the band to Mastodon and Lamb Of God in their bio, one can safely say that Metal Blade has their hopes pinned on LOSA being the name on the lips of every open-minded metalhead from here to Bangladesh. Thankfully, as a listen to The Perfect Moment will prove, these hopes are not without good reason.

The aptly-titled 'The Beginning' leaps past such unneeded gears as first through fourth, and slams into fifth, until the oncoming traffic of the rhythm section sideswipes you into the first verse. There's just so many damn variables at work in LOSA's music - even from the first song - that to compare them to just one band would be unjust in the least. Lead throat Michael Hall moans like Maynard Keenan, screeches like Jacob Bannon, and covers all points between as if by instinct instead of effort. One could be tempted to write LOSA off as yet another band trying the "throw it against the wall and see what sticks" approach to songwriting, were the songs not so brilliantly arranged. 'Unsuspecting Mind' is the result of unholy copulation between Tool, Mastodon, and Pig Destroyer - yes, Pig Destroyer. Chaotic as this three-way lovefest may sound when written down, everything is musically in its place, and gels so fluidly that when 'The Witness's Account' flows into 'One Day, All Eyes Went Dim', the transition is seamless. Double bass rumblings, dirge-like riffery (Someone in this band is into doom, mark my words.), and anguished vocals straining to be heard above the musical delirium, and all in one song. 'The Witness's Account' can't be compared to anything, and is when my ears first affirmed what should've been obvious before. You simply can't compare LOSA to anyone. I mean, sure, the marginal points of reference are there, but the true core of this band's sound is theirs to call their own. There are skirmishes with battle metal here ('From The Ashes Of Infancy'), tech-friendly exercises there ('Linear Prophecy'), and through it all the abiding sense that something is just not right in the heads of LOSA's members. 'Church Of Pitted Vipers' packs more punches than a drunken brawl in Deep Ellum, with riffwork that breaks over the surface of the rhythm section like glass shattering against stone, and embittered screams of betrayal. LOSA slits their musical wrists to bleed a little cinematic madness through closer 'Cessation'. Within the spine-jarring thud of the bass, the savage attack of the guitars, and the livid screech of the vocals can be found the soundtrack to your next ass-kicking.

I'll cut to the chase with this one. After the previous forty-odd minutes of disharmonic collision that is LOSA's debut full-length, it was all I could do to reach over and hit the Play button again. Some may see The Perfect Moment as genre-defining...I see it as genre-defying. The bar has been raised. 

www.losa.nu