Alpha Lyrae – Alpha Lyræ

Alpha Lyrae is a musical project of Guido Jeri (vocals, guitar and bass), a Peruvian solo artist residing in London, UK. Alpha Lyræ is his self-titled debut album containing six quite lengthy songs. Thus, each of the six songs is extensive, with the shortest song being the second track “October Lux” being app. five minutes long. More on that later on in this review.

After a couple of spins Alpha Lyræ and all its six composions proves to be a deeply personal and introspective musical endeavor. It’s been conceived as a sonic response to the imminent birth of his daughter in 2020, ‘…Alpha Lyræ draws inspiration from her place in this turbulent world and contemplates her future within it’. For those of you interested in genre classification, I would call this a piece of melodic death/doom with the intricate elements of progressive rock.

This untraditional yet beautiful musical journey begins with the emotional, dreaming and spiritual “Criterion”. Already after the first tone was delivered, one is in no doubt that we are dealing with emotionally charged and energetic blend of melodic death & doom metal. Another important feature about “Criterion” is the participation of a guest vocalist, by Genaro Alva. Next track is the aforementioned shortest song of the record, “October Lux”. It is another thoughtfull and somehow calm song, with occassional torrential voices, while always maintaining tranquility. Then comes the self-titled “Alpha Lyræ”, the longest song which lasts for more than nine minutes. On “Alpha Lyræ” we can hear a silent and calm atmosphere with some beautiful semi-acoustic interludes, which are only interrupted with some serious and guttural chants. This is a song that wanders between heavy and light, between (melodic) death and doom. Following song called “Pillars of Wisdom” follows the same path, keeping things slow with instrumental that repeats itself. I consider this short track as beautiful bridge between the first and second half of the album. On the other end of the spectrum we find the next track “H.I.” (listen to the track below). It’s quite demanding and lengthy track which starts with a spiritual tone and sets the mood for the album’s ethereal song. “H.I.” follows in a more more doom direction featuring epic voices and some resonate post-rock/progressive sounds and some mesmerizing & melancholic Eastern melodies towards the end of the song. Overall, I like the way this song is composed, well-written, and one that keeps you interested despite of its length of almost ten minutes. More than 42 minutes of musical journey ends with the grand finale, “Deus in Te”, which is obviously another sincere, emotional and melancholic song, where we once again are presented to death/doom metal, with inclusion and mix of both clean voices and guttural vocals.

In conclusion; the musical tapestry of Alpha Lyræ unfolds as a rich and diverse fusion of progressive/post-rock/doom/melodic death metal, showcasing a sonic palette that transcends conventional genre boundaries. Production is top-notch and modern, esp. having in mind that this is the work of only one man handling all of the instruments. Beautifil cover artwork, depicting the artist’s daugther, is done by Kike Congrains, a Peruvian collage artist and the creator of ‘Canson City’.

The Alpha Lyrae project will definitely delight fans of melodic death/doom and all fans of Black Sabbath, Opeth, Tool, Anathema, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Saturnus, Alcest and similar acts. The album is available on digipak and on major digital streaming platforms.

For further info on this project and its debut release, go to https://alphalyrae.bandcamp.com/album/alpha-lyr-2