Phoenix based Lago made an impact throughout the 2010’s with their dense and dissonant take on death metal that felt like equal amounts of Immolation and Morbid Angel fused with quite a bit of other elements. Following 2018’s Sea of Duress the band would be quiet on the studio front for quite some time, but in recent years they brought back drummer Brian Miller and have returned with Vigil. This third effort expands naturally upon the band’s foundation, heading towards an even denser and bottom-heavy sound while letting the leads and solos reach wilder peaks than before. It’s a welcome comeback from this long-running band that offers plenty of standout moments for fans of everything death metal related.
Where Sea of Duress felt like it added a bit more of a blackened edge to the tonality and put the dissonant leads a bit higher in the mix, Vigil pivots back towards dense and weighty death metal where the lurching chugs and unrelenting drumming is given the most focus in the production. You hear this immediately upon pressing play, as opener “Behold, Ruin” greets you with the type of chest thumping drumming and meatier low-end sound that’s reminiscent of some of Hate Eternal’s densest efforts. While that foundation is laid down the guitar and bass flow back and forth with ever-shifting grooves and hints of dissonance, and it isn’t long before the track brings in a higher pitched solo that immediately grabs your attention. Lago still sounds like they’ve learned a lot from the houses of Morbid Angel and Immolation over the years, but the way the dissonance continues to seep into each track also suggests a bit more Gorguts. Yet none of what’s on Vigil comes through as a mere copy either, as the way the songs flow gives Lago a different feel than some of their peers and there is plenty here that will satisfy both traditional and dissonant death metal fans. Tracks like “Initiation Rite” are a perfect example, as the first passage has the huge chugs and lumbering sound that’s more old-school but then things switch over to more intricate leads where the dissonance takes over and gives off more of a dreadful and haunting atmosphere. There are some similarities from song to song in how the band incorporates their solos, but the number of riffs that stand out over repeat listens more than makes up for this and Vigil has quite a bit of staying power.
There have been shifts in Lago’s lineup over the past sixteen years but founding members Garrett Thomas and Cole Jacobsen have remained and as a result the split between high and low vocals is consistent from album to album. Initially the focus is mainly on the low-end, as “Behold, Ruin” lets the growls reverberate over the lumbering foundation and there are only a few sections where you can hear some higher pitches in the background. But once you reach “Fodder” the divide between the two is a bit clearer, and the interplay between the highs and lows gives the material even more intensity. Later in the album “In A House of Ill Repute” gives the highs a chance to take the spotlight even more, and there’s an ugliness and grittier feel to them that fits well with what the rest of the band is doing. Sometimes in this type of death metal the vocals don’t change too much from beginning to end, but there’s a subtleness to the performances on Vigil that makes things feel a bit more dynamic from song to song.
In 2026 it seems like there’s more death metal than ever vying for your attention, but Lago’s newest effort is one that can cut through the noise with real substance. Compared to their last album Vigil is even heavier and denser, with the pummeling nature of the drumming and weight of the instrumentals feeling like it’s going to cave your walls in. The use of dissonance and more intricate riffs works well within the cavernous, old-school foundation, and whether you’re a fan of Immolation, Ulcerate, or anything in between this album is likely to be one that doesn’t leave your stereo any time soon. Vigil is available from Everlasting Spew Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
