Larva – Desolation Road (Album – Advoxya Records)
Genre/Influences: Dark-electro.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: The Spanish Larva duo consisting of ‘InqUesT’ and ‘Anoxia’ are now terrorizing the dark-electro community for more than twenty years. “Desolation Road” must be their ninth official studio album featuring thirteen new cuts.
Content: I often have compared Larva to Suicide Commando although the past few years saw the band evolving towards a more personal and elaborate sound. “Desolation Road” might be seen as the apotheosis of this evolution. The songs are meticulously composed, carried by great synth lines and often driven by a slower tempo. The real harshness emerges from the vocals, which are mainly in Spanish, but you’ll also notice a few English sung songs. The global sphere hanging over the work became more present –and important, than the power of the tracks. This album will make you dance, but it also dives into melancholic pieces as well.
+ + + : The sound formula of Larva hasn’t changed that much throughout the years, but the main difference hides in the global production process and the songs becoming more sophisticated and less powerful. Larva remains a band that will make you dance, but it’s no longer a dancefloor killer. This work also reveals more atmospheric pieces built up with great, dark synth lines. The songs are still featuring numerous Spanish spoken vocal passages, which in a way also reinforce the dark and somewhat mysterious sphere hanging over the album. Larva remains dark and tormented, but there also is something emotional in this album and that’s rather rare for this kind of production.
– – – : The harsh vocals remain a typical characteristic from the Larva production, but sometimes it all sounds a bit exaggerated. It’s hard to understand the lyrics.
Conclusion: It’s hard to say if this is Larva’s best album to date, but it for sure is the best produced opus in the band’s wide discography. Larva has found its own sound and style.
Best songs: “Falsa Realidad”, “El Decorado De Mi Fracaso”, “Solo Soy Un Recuerdo”, “Tan Alto”, “Burbuja de Cristal”.
Rate: (8).
Artist: https://www.larva.band/index.php/en /
www.facebook.com/larva.official
Label: www.advoxya-records.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Advoxya-Records/265765706059
About Larva
Larva is a Spanish dark-electro duo, Marco InqUesT and Anoxia, formed in Barcelona in 1998. “Desolation Road”, reviewed here, was released on Advoxya Records; the band went on to release its eleventh studio album, “Void”, in 2021 via the same label, following up 2017’s “Scars”. Larva discussed its live approach in a 2020 Click Interview with Side-Line.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
