EP review: LOVEBITES – Glory, Glory, To The World

LOVEBITES really don’t fuck around. Almost four years to the day since they burst onto the international scene with 2017’s The Lovebites EP, they’re back with the five furious tracks of Glory, Glory, To the World, having chalked-up another extended-play and three full albums in-between. After seeing their Electric Pentagram world tour cut short by the COVID pandemic, the quintet eschewed the idea of a year off in favour of working on the theme song for Vlad Love – the brand new slapstick anime about a group of five high school girls, one of whom is a vampire. As you do.

Although the resultant Winds Of Transylvania is an OTT feast for the ears in itself (the idea of five ferocious females clearly speaking to LOVEBITES), they didn’t stop there. Instead, work began on fleshing out Glory, Glory, To The World as an ode to mankind’s ability to endure. “The music created in such darkness,” they say, “has managed to become full of feelings of salvation and light.”

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about LOVEBITES is their ability to so clearly showcase that tireless work ethic in their sound. The six-and-a-half-minute title-track feels like the sort of overblown, horns-aloft power metal epic some (great) bands could’ve spent years – rather than months – putting together. No Time To Hesitate showcases some groove metal stomp, but can’t help take flight in its latter half. Then Paranoia and Dystopia Symphony weave their 100mph textures into an on-point depiction of billions of humans trapped behind their laptop screens for months on end – like Hammerfall getting it on with Queensrÿche.

Doubling down on their brand of oversaturated high-drama, GGTTW won’t win over any entrenched doubters. But, so swollen is LOVEBITES’ sound, that even doubtful newcomers will struggle not to be swept along…

Rating: 3/5

For fans of: DragonForce, BABYMETAL, Hammerfall

Glory, Glory To The World is released on May 28 via JPU.

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