Covenant - Lightbringer

It's been a long wait for something new from Covenant. The years have passed by and the set release year for their next album is postponed and postponed. Now, finally, we have something new from Covenant and it is not quite what you would have expected.

With the Scandinavian signing of Covenant to the label Progress Productions, somewhere along the line, an idea of collaboration between Covenant and Necro Facility was formed. If this idea was thought up before the signing or after, we do not know, but let's skip that and go straight to what this EP called 'Lightbringer' actually delivers.

I really enjoy the beginning of the song, first, we get a synth loop that is very much what you would expect from Covenant, but then a couple of seconds in, it switches to a drum beat and sound effects you can would hear on a Necro Facility album and Henrik's distorted vocals delivers the verse and Eskil will later take care of the refrain. It all feels very Covenant, but with a sweet tasting little twist.

The original version and radio version are very much alike, like you would had expect and it's a great tune. The more minimalistic "DM RMX" by Daniel Myer (my guess) works fine, but the "Speedrun" version seems to me to always be a bit off beat, this track simply don't work well with the standardized dance floor BPM. The cryptic and industrial "JM RMX" by Joakim Montelius (my guess) is far from a favourite as well, since it seems to remove most of the flow and life from the tune.

How about the two B-sides then, "The Beauty and the Grace (RMX)" and "Never Seem to End (Unreleased)"? "The Beauty and the Grace" is simply delivered with both beauty and grace. The monotone beat is great and Eskils voice in its essence combined makes this a solid track all and all. "Never Seem to End" on the other hand is quite the opposite, even though a moody Eskil is never wrong, the entire track is unfortunately quite the sleeping pill. It is perhaps a bit to ambient for my taste.

'Lightbringer' shines brightly, but not so hot that it burns you to ashes on first contact. Still, a solid release and good quality check for the upcoming album, if we ever get one. Oct 15 2010