Lynx is a moniker that, when you’re as big of a metal nerd as I, can refer to multiple acts. There’s the ’70s Canadian band, who could’ve passed as a pompified version of Deep Purple. Then, you’ve got the Swedish melodic metal act, whose sole album, 1985’s Caught in the Trap, is a hidden masterpiece. Today’s Lynx, however, is not related to either of those bands or any other Lynx in question. No, today’s Lynx is a ’70s metal throwback act from Germany who has been going at it since 2020. They released their debut, 2021’s Watcher of Skies, via No Remorse, and return five years later with their sophomore offering, Trinity of Suns, via Dying Victims.
This band has undergone quite a few changes in the half decade that has passed since we last heard from them. Out is founding guitarist/vocalist Marvin Kiefer, who some may know from NWOTHM speedsters, Blizzen. In his place, lead singer Amy Zine and guitarist/co-singer Janni, hence expanding Lynx into a five piece. While I can’t speak for Watcher of Skies, as in all honesty, I haven’t listened to it, I find Trinity of Suns to be quite a refreshing listen: Not just as a palette cleanse from the usual black-death-thrashing sounds that bombard my everyday routine, but for presenting a unique spin on this nostalgic sound.
What’s perhaps most unique about this album are the vocals. Unlike her peers in other *ahem* “female-fronted” acts, Zine does not hit you between the eyes with those Doro-esque heroics, nor does she resort to the Ann Wilson stylings that so many leading ladies of ’70s throwback outfits do. Instead, Zine boasts an otherworldly, androgynous vocal delivery reminiscent in tone to a young Geddy Lee, minus the ear-piercing shrieks. Peppered in are sweet harmonies and equally retro vocals from Janni. Couple these angelic choirs with a riff barrage akin to ’70s Thin Lizzy at their most ferocious, and you’ve got a firecracker of an album on your hands.
The classic Rush comparisons also extend beyond the vocals. With their incorporation of esoteric lyricism, spacey synths, and lengthy songs, Lynx presents us with a progressive spin on old school heavy metal and hard rock. This is best exemplified on cuts like the opening “Voyager”, “Stranger Sign in the Sky”, and the title track. This isn’t metal to bang your head to, but rather to free your head to. On the contrary is a rager like “Oppressive Season”, which besides channeling Lizzy, also manages to wallop us with some blatant Heep-isms in those galloping drums. It all comes together on the closing “Island Universe”, chaos and calm colliding head-on, resulting in a masterclass in prog metal circa ’76.
Trinity of Suns will not only appeal to headbangers who hold the ’70s in reverence, but prog freaks and classic rock fans in general who long for more newer acts capable of carrying the old school torch without blatantly ripping off Zeppelin. Mind you, while I namedropped the likes of Rush, Lizzy, and Heep as comparisons for this review, at no point does Lynx sound like a clone of any of these acts. No, Lynx sound like Lynx…you know, this Lynx, not the Lynx I discussed in the opening paragraph! Or is it Lynxes? Hmm…
7 out of 10
Label: Dying Victims Productions
Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
For fans of: Thin Lizzy, Rush, Hällas
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