Lion’s Share is a name that carries heavy expectations. When a band boasts a resume that includes sharing stages with Motörhead, Dio and Saxon and features collaborations with members of Megadeth and King Diamond, you expect a masterclass in heavy metal. However, after a 17-year hiatus, “Inferno” feels less like a triumphant return and more like a collection of scattered ideas searching for a common thread. The primary struggle with “Inferno” is its lack of fluidity. Rather than a unified album experience, the record sounds like a chronological archive of different eras. The production quality and character shift so drastically from track to track that it feels as though the songs were recorded years apart in different studios. For a band with this much industry experience the structural choices are often puzzling. Many tracks suffer from minimalist songwriting where a “less is more” approach ends up feeling like “not enough”. The talent is clearly there. I mean, you don’t play with Yngwie Malmsteen or Symphony X without serious chops and musicianship, but “Inferno” struggles with the “song” part of songwriting. The hooks are often underwritten, leaving the listener wanting more lyrical content and melodic payoff that the band never delivers. While some songs provide passable moments of “genre exercise”, they aren’t enough to save the record from its overall lack of focus. Ultimately, the album feels disjointed. For a 17-year wait, fans were likely hoping for a roaring comeback. Instead, they got sparks of the old fire that never truly ignited into a full blown “inferno”.
♦ 3,5/10
Panos Niko
