Lost Department

'lostdEPartment' EP
'Things of Flesh and Blood' CD, Funtime Records

From: DisAgreement Online

LOST DEPARTMENT - Things Of Flesh And Blood

Lost Department from the capital city of Belgium started in 2001, back then called Lo.Dep. After a demo CD and an EP, Things Of Flesh And Blood is the official debut longplayer of this strong metal band.

The opener Butterfly is still a classic piece of melodic hardcore with screamo parts and a wonderful chorus, but it’s only on the following material that Lost Department show their true potential. The energetic title track is already much closer to the metal genre, with guest vocals by the singer of the legendary Belgian thrash metal band Channel Zero. The End is totally different, played at a more moderate pace, and despite its eight minute running time has definite airplay compatibility. The next songs are harder again, but even when Lost Department may sound hectic or confusing, they always manage to sneak in catchy melodies. Part One – Bound To You and Part Two – A Way To Defeat You, separated by a short instrumental, are among the record’s highlights due to their enormous variety. Lost Department’s mix of hardcore, emo and metal turned out splendidly. There is no denying that their chosen genre is currently totally hip, but the Belgians are skilled enough not to copy ostentatiously from specific bands. In the end I am amazed how seamless the different parts within a song merge into one another.

Although Funtime Records is best known for its excellent punk and hardcore releases, they have shown good taste with this metal album. Lost Department is a band without stylistic constraints that has delivered an astonishing debut that should appeal to every open-minded metal fan.

---

From: PunkRockTheory.com

Lost Department – Things Of Flesh And Blood

“Things Of Flesh And Blood” may be Lost Department’s debut full-length but these guys sound like they’ve been going at it for years. Picking up where they left off with their EP, they throw punk, hardcore, metalcore and even some proggy parts together in the blender and end up with a convincing batch of songs. The mix of screams and clean vocals actually works for them and they radiate energy. The guitarists know how to handle their instruments and the magical hands of producer Ace Zec do the rest.

The opening track is a bouncy, beefed up punkrock song, the title track (with guest vocals by Channel Zero’s Franky DSVD) is more metal and made me think of “The Sound Of White Noise” era Anthrax and “Sickface Sidesmile” is straight up nasty metalcore. It’s that variation that keeps things interesting all the way to closing track “A.F.B.I.A.”. Nice job!
Score: 7 out of 10

---

From: www.podiuminfo.nl

Lost Department - Things of Flesh and Blood
(Album - Funtime Records)

Lost Department uit België is een band die zich niet eenvoudig in een hokje laat plaatsen. De zesmans formatie heeft zojuist haar debuut Things Of Flesh And Blood uitgebracht. Na één eigen beheer EP werd het bescheiden Funtime label bereid gevonden het debuut uit te brengen. Dit label is vooral een punkrock en hardcore label maar heeft met Lost Department een band die over de grenzen van de genoemde genres reikt.

De zes bandleden hebben elk een eigen smaak, wat ongetwijfeld de reden is dat in de muziek een bont pallet van diverse stijlen valt waar te nemen. De meest hoorbare genres zijn punkrock en hardcore, maar ook metalcore, postrock, en zelfs progrock invloeden zijn aanwezig. Door al deze stijlwisselingen is Things Of Flesh And Blood niet altijd licht verteerbare kost. Toch werpt even stevig doorbijten wel zijn vruchten af. Na een aantal luisterbeurten vallen de puzzelstukjes langzaam op zijn plaats, en ontvouwt zich een bovenmodaal album. Bijzonder is dat Lost Department twee zangers in de gelederen heeft, waardoor er vocaal heel wat op de luisteraar afkomt.

De meeste nummers zijn voorzien van mooie overgangen en veelal gezegend met catchy refreinen. Opener ‘Butterfly Effect’ is een springerig punkrock nummer, wat door de gebuikte screams behoorlijk pittig klinkt. Het titelnummer gaat wat meer de metalcore kant op. Opvallend in dit nummer is de gastzang van Franky De Smet Van Damme die vroeger furore maakte in Channel Zero. Heel verrassend zijn de Opeth achtige jazzy intermezzo’s in het lange ‘This End’, wat des te meer aangeeft hoe veelzijdig deze band is. In ‘No Excuses’ heeft Meshuggah in de overgangen voor de nodige inspiratie gezorgd al blijft ook dit nummer vooral een punkrock song. ‘Sickface Sidesmile’ klinkt alsof het is weggelopen van een plaat van Sick Of It All. Het drieluik ‘Bound To You’(met saxofoon solo), ‘Interlude’ en ‘A Way To Defeat You’ hebben tekstueel een verbintenis, en gaat over een gebrouillerde vriendschap die overslaat in een alles verzengende haat. Al lijkt het wel metaforisch bedoeld. Wat een intens werkstuk!

Het vruchtbare muzikale klimaat in België heeft weer zijn volgende rijpe vrucht afgeworpen. Lost Department heeft alles in zich om groot te worden; muzikaal vakmanschap, sterke songs en een geluid dat helemaal in deze tijd past. Een album dat niet snel verveelt is het resultaat.

4/5
17/12/2009 - Jan Didden

---

From: Mass Movement web- and paperzine

Lost Department – Things Of Flesh And Blood (Funtime) CD

Brussels’ Lost Department have taken their love for music, which really runs deep in this six-piece, and created a lively record which everyone should own. From 60s pop music to radio friendly punk rock to hardhitting metalcore, these guys deliver everything you need. It’s always powerful, catchy and unexpected. Like a heat seeking missle they never miss their target, every song is spot on… Martijn Welzen

---

From: www.deathmetal.be webzine

Lost Department – Things of Flesh and Blood
Funtime Records – cd2009

What a shame it would be if our capital Brussels didn’t have one metalband to be extremely proud of. Lost Department (the artist formerly known as Lo.Dep) started out in 2001 and have released a demo, an EP and now finally a debut full-length. They represent Funtime Records (a well-known punk and hardcore label) and have several labelmates that have seen the world whilst travelling with their band (think of The.Maple.Room, Homer, …).

The unique mix of hardcore (mostly brought by singer Alexander Lemahieu) with metal, punk and all other kinds of heavy music. A fresh breath filled with energy and trademarked by catchy sing-along-songs, completed by some heavy riffing. The French band ULTRA VOMIT splits those different styles up and selects one for each song, Lost Department mixes them all into each and every song and made an album packed with instant hit material. It’s truly phenomenal how they can switch from downright melodic deathmetal in the vain of ARCH ENEMY to THRICE-like screams and ditto riffs.

Franky DSVD (CHANNEL ZERO) contributed to this album and they are hitting “De Afrekening” pretty hard and will perform as warming-up for CHANNEL ZERO on their up-and-coming reunion shows.

This is the Belgian answer to AVENGED SEVENFOLD!

[87/100]

Written by Tom Dejonghe

www.myspace.com/LODEP
www.funtimerecords.com

---

From: Out Of Step Zine

Lost Department – Things of flesh and blood

CD 2009 Funtime Records

Metal from Brussels, that’s Lost Department (aka Lo.DEP). Sounds good already don’t you think but when I drop the names Ace Zec (production), Alan Douches (mastering) and Franky DSVD (additional vocals on the title track) it even sounds way better.

Lost Department is a heavy rocking sextet who just released their first full length on Funtime Records. The band plays hard rock with elements of metal, (progressive) rock, hardcore and pop. Their sound is so divers that it will appeal to a very divers audience. If you like heavy music with clean vocals, you will love the softer parts on this album. If you are more into scream and grunts, you will enjoy the record to. ‘Things of flesh and blood’ even has something to offer for the fans of trash metal. It’s the diversity in sound that makes Lo.DEP and this album very interesting. On the other hand it can also be a pain in the ass when you like one sound more then the other and the sound you hate is dominating. My opinion about this album is that it is a good rocking and divers album. The thing I don’t like about this album is the cover art.

www.lostdepartment.com