San Francisco in northern California has been providing the metal community with some great heavy metal acts for nearly thirty years. One of the more recent metal band to call the bay area home are melodic death metal warriors Light This City. Earlier in the summer this quintet announced their plans to unexpectedly disband after six years of relentless touring. Having already recorded Stormchaser with producer Zach Ohren (All Shall Perish, Odious Mortem), Light This City decided that this CD would be released as a farewell to a short but advantageous career.

Being a huge fan of melodic death metal, I have been looking forward to checking out Light This City for some time now. I must say that I wish I had checked them out earlier in their career so I could enjoy listening to them develop over time. I have been able to listen to a couple earlier songs and it seems to me that on Stormchaser, they have developed a stronger sense of melody without losing any of the aggression for which they have become known. This might be due to the additions of new guitarist, Ryan Hansen and bassist, Jon Frost. The guitar work is very well performed, packed full of great melodic riffing and blistering solos.

The lead and title track hits the gates running with some well performed Gothenburg-style melody that is reminiscent of the earlier works from Dark Tranquility and Carcass. The band hits its stride by time Laura Nichol chimes in with her hatred filled growl. She unleashes a hell-inspired performance that should be envied by most men in the industry.

Since I am an avid reader of horror and science fiction, I love when bands use these styles of fiction as a basis for their albums or songs. Light This City pay homage twice on Stormchaser to science fiction guru Ray Bradbury. The first track to pay tribute, Firehaven, features Chuck Billy (Testament) providing additional vocals, is based on the short story The Long Rain. The Long Rain is about four men who crash land on the planet Venus, portrayed as a world of continuous rain. In their travels to find the “Sun Dome”, an oasis of sorts from the driving rain, the astronauts succumb to the unending downpour and harsh terrain, losing both their sanity and lives along the way. Chuck really adds depth to the song; his amazing (as always) performance complements that of Nichol’s. Light This City really captures the sanity (or lack there of) of these astronauts, lyrically and musically. The second track, Wake Me At Sunset, is based on “The Rocket Man” which tells the story of an astronaut whose job keeps him away from his wife and son, only allowing him to visit for three days at a time. He makes a promise to his son that he is leaving on his last mission, unfortunatly his ship crashes into the sun. From then on the son and his mother vow never to venture outside during the day. This is a very angry song told from the perspective of the son, defiantly Nichol’s best vocal performance on the entire album.

Overall, Stormchaser is a well planned out and produced album, a very respectable way for Light This City to finish their career. It is a shame their fans will not get to see these songs performed live because they would have translated well on stage. If you are looking for a fresh perspective on melodic death than you would do no wrong to check out Light This City and their swansong, Stormchaser.

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