Review: Interloper – A Forgotten Loss

Style: Metalcore, Deathcore, Djent (Mixed vocals, mostly harsh)
Recommended for fans of: Veil of Maya, later Persefone, Gojira, Fit For An Autopsy
Country: California, United States
Release date: 27 September 2024

We’ve all experienced some level of grief at the radical changing of a band’s identity: I imagine many people were upset when Ulver, for example, eschewed literally every facet of their Black Metal Trilogie by extricating any and all dark folk and metal sensibilities on Perdition City onward, even transforming the vocal delivery and timbre from something a little unpolished and raw to ultra-clean and professional. This is not to say these changes were bad for Ulver, though, as time has shown that Kristoffer Rygg can do little wrong. Ween fans have it even worse, as they must mourn a radical change of sound on a track-by-track basis.¹ Interloper, whose Search Party was a favorite of mine in 2021, have returned with new LP A Forgotten Loss: does it inspire the same grief we all know from radical changes in sound, or have Interloper made a beeline for the safely straight-and-narrow?

A Forgotten Loss sits wholeheartedly with the former, incorporating some drastic changes to style and approach: whereas Search Party exuded character in its swaggering power-metal-meets-metalcore aesthetic, many facets that made the debut compelling are conspicuously missing, such as the crackling high-speed energy, exciting earworm choruses, and omnipresent clean vocals, being largely replaced with pummeling walls of twisted chugging and cleans that accent harsh vocals as opposed to the other way around. Frankly, it sounds like a completely different band wrote this album, something closer to newer Persefone or Veil of Maya, and as a result I was a bit jarred and frustrated with A Forgotten Loss on first listen: while there’s nothing wrong with this style, I was ready to hear more soaring cleans and fast-paced cheeseball choruses. However, it is important to analyze a record both in and out of the context of former work when such stark departures in sound are involved, as old frames of reference won’t cut it on their own. Deep down, I don’t want them to just release another Search Party, and I appreciate that they are exploring new songwriting principles and sounds, so if those new ideas work well, they deserve praise regardless of my expectations.

So what works well within their new sound? “My Time Comes” showcases competency in deathcore songwriting, establishing a central groove and modulating around it in interesting ways, the bridge in particular demanding the listener’s attention as the drums completely subvert the rhythmic pattern while the guitar grooves remain steadfast; “The Rot” sees success in both its relatively catchy chorus and in its concluding breakdown that washes over the listener like a rockslide; and some interesting tech death ideas even surface in the last stretches, as “Shrouded” reaches breakneck pace with Obscura-style riffage and a deluge of blast-beats, then approaching Rivers of Nihil-esque sensibilities on “Roots That Bind” in its unrelenting kick drums and arpeggio-tremolo guitar interplay. Unfortunately, you have to wait a bit for these tech-death style tracks to really get going, but the payoffs are satisfying nonetheless. If you listen closely, there are even glimpses of Interloper’s older sound on “The Ones That Changed Me,” featuring melodeath-style guitar leads, majority-clean vocals, and a cinematic bridge led by subtle orchestration and satisfying tremolo picks pitted against crushing chugs.

Despite the generally successful execution on A Forgotten Loss, Interloper leave room for improvement in their exploration of new styles: growing pains can be sensed in the awkward rhythmic interplay on the title track, and many of the choruses are somewhat anonymous, lacking an immediate hook and leaving songs to rely on strong grooves to center the music. Moreover, I do find A Forgotten Loss to drag on a bit in its final moments: it’s not even that long of an album, clocking in at just over forty-five minutes, but the unforgiving assault of chugs and pummeling kick drums exhaust the listener quickly; the quieter moments to be found in the latter tracks come just a bit too late and are too short to act as a successful palate cleanser. However, some breakthroughs into tech-death territory in the final moments with “Shrouded” and “Roots that Bind” add some much-needed interest, even in the context of an album of fresh sounds, saving the ending from total ruin at the last minute.

Having passed through the five stages of grief regarding Interloper’s new style, I’ve come out the other side feeling alright about A Forgotten Loss—though I had to work through a period of, well, loss for the power metal sensibilities and soaring clean vocals on Search Party, Interloper have succeeded overall in their Fit For An Autopsy-flavored experimentation. While the execution is not perfect, with a few rough-around-the-edges sections and some troubles with pacing, Interloper’s willingness to explore and ability to try new things to relative success proves optimistic for the band’s future. Whatever comes next, I’ll be sure to turn off the cantankerous boomer in my mind and approach it from a more open perspective from the get-go.

Recommended Tracks: My Time Comes, The Ones That Changed Me, Shrouded, The Soul Beneath
You may also like: Hippotraktor, Koronus, Dvota, Hypno5e
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Independent

Interloper is:
– Andrew Virrueta (vocals, guitars)
– Miles Baker (guitars)

1. Though I know in my heart that those dorks actually revel in it. ↩︎