De’Lour – The Ghost You Left Behind | EP Review

South Wales metal act De’Lour show tremendous growth on their complex and crushingly heavy new EP

Formed over the lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic, South Wales based five piece De’Lour have been making waves with their live shows supporting bands like The Blackout and Dream State for the last few years with a handful of singles behind them. Now, on their new EP The Ghost You Left Behind, they’re ready to flex their Deftones tinged metalcore muscles.

Opening track ‘You Want’ makes a powerful statement of intent with chugging guitars backing powerful, soaring vocals from frontman Aaron Roberts. From the beginning of the album is obvious that although De’Lour’s influences, ranging from Trivium and The Dillinger Escape Plan to even Sempiternal era Bring Me The Horizon, are worn on the band’s sleeve, it’s clear that elements of each of their inspirations have been carefully chosen to fit their style, with an understatedly complex rhythm section backing punchy guitar riffs and a commanding vocal performance. ‘You Want’ does an admirable job of introducing the band’s full range with a sing-along chorus and impressive musicianship straight off the bat.

Throughout The Ghost You Left Behind De’Lour punch well above their weight in terms of production and performance. Tracks like ‘Crown’ and ‘Sun Crusher’ stand out as particularly well crafted with each instrumental part carving out their own spot in the mix, creating a full sound with plenty of clarity and plenty of room for the dominating vocals. The crisp, layered production is on par with that of many far bigger acts, further pointing towards De’Lour’s fantastic attention to detail.

Unique praise has to go to De’Lour’s rhythm section, featuring bassist Keiron Dix and drummer Tom Williams, as they find space to remain subtly impressive even amongst two guitarists and Roberts’ assertive vocals. The track ‘Take Caution’ is a perfect example of the pair’s prowess, with the relatively slow pace and stripped down production providing plenty of room for them to fill the space with understated fills and low end harmonies behind the power ballad style vocals.

De’Lour pull out all the stops on The Ghost You Left Behind’s closing track ‘Cold Decisions’, both by upping the ante with their most ferocious riffs yet and bringing in Bullet For My Valentine’s own Jamie Mathis to provide some savage backing vocals. With equal attention paid to the oppressive, haunting atmosphere and shredding metalcore riffs, ‘Cold Decisions’ feels far heavier than many of the other tracks on the album despite it’s slower pace, aptly demonstrating De’Lour’s ability to put in the work and set the mood before bringing it all crashing down with a thunderous breakdown.

De’Lour show massive dedication to their craft on The Ghost You Left Behind, balancing varied sonic textures with devastatingly heavy riffs and breakdowns. Fans of Deftones, The Dillinger Escape Plan or fellow Welshmen Bullet For My Valentine should keep De’Lour locked in their sights, if they continue on this trajectory these lads will go far.