As any buffet-enjoyer will tell you, two helpings are always better than one. Lord Of The Lost’s ‘OPVS NOIR Vol. 1’ was a fantastic outing for the up-and-coming symphonic metal crew, with Within Temptation-collab ‘Light Can Only Shine In The Darkness’ seemingly primed to be one of their biggest hits to date— off the back of that record’s success, the second instalment in this planned trilogy has arrived before the year’s end. Volume two is, in many ways, a fitting follow-up to its predecessor, filling itself with the same melodrama and mystery that made ‘Vol. 1’ such a definitive statement: those elements aren’t quite as enthralling the second time around though.

There is a lot to be said for the theatrical showings that Lord Of The Lost bring to their latest release: indeed, we spelled most of them out when reviewing ‘Vol. 1’ earlier this year. From the echoing piano notes that kick off opener ‘The Fall From Grace,’ the band’s continued focus on dark atmospheres and extreme musical excess is pushed right to the forefront— once again, bombastic strings and orchestral swells are doing more of the work than the guitars, leading to another album that feels more opulent and impressive than overly heavy. At least in these first few moments, the intended effect come through quite nicely, as the record’s opening track is a solid one. ‘The Fall From Grace’ would probably have fit into ‘Vol. 1’ seamlessly, executing the delicate balance between its stark keys melodies, anthemic vocal displays and grandiose playing very well. Lord Of The Lost were not lying when they dubbed this record a sequel to their last: in places, the two are practically indistinguishable from one another.

It’s actually in its weakest moments that ‘Vol. 2’ deviates most heavily from its predecessor: where that album felt incredibly sure-footed, this one is far more uneven. Single ‘Would You Walk With Me Through Hell’ takes one look at ‘Light Can Only Shine In The Darkness’ and does its damndest to replicate its success, replacing the crooning balladry of Within Temptation’s Sharon den Adel with the more menacing offerings of Infected Rain’s Lena Scissorhands— the second iteration isn’t nearly as memorable, with its emphasis on unsettling chord changes and gurgling metal screams feeling somewhat misguided and hamfisted. Indeed, the guest features Lord Of The Lost employ throughout their newest endeavour feel more essential than they did on ‘Vol. 1,’ but also more inconsistent: chief among these is Eurovision-star Käärijä, who injects a welcome dose of dance influence into ‘Raveyard’ (and yet still, somehow, feels out of place when is vocals come crashing in). Harms and company have done an excellent job of adapting their sound to suit each collaboration, a welcome change from the unflinching consistency of ‘Vol. 1’— it does lead to a somewhat uneven product though.

From that mixed bag, it must be said that the band do unveil their fair share of strong material: the Lord Of The Lost of August are still alive and kicking come December, and their signature symphonic metal trappings do still hit the spot. ‘What Have We Become?’ was touted as a particularly emotional cut on the record, and the IAMX-collab does indeed harbour enough venom to make you raise an eyebrow— the song fully commits to being the heaviest and most overtly-metal cut on the record, pairing harrowing screams against booming industrial riffs in a truly hair-raising manner. It’s also worth mentioning that ‘Vol. 2’ does tout an arguably stronger final leg than its predecessor did, closing out on on the well-rounded ‘Please Break The Silence’ and the stripped-back ballad ‘Sharp Edges.’ After forty minutes of pure dramatic excess, this withdrawn end to the project is a welcome reprieve, bringing with it some more intriguing lyrical concepts than the cliches preceding it: here, at least, Lord Of The Lost make important steps towards justifying this latest trilogy of theirs.

Or perhaps not, as so many more moments on ‘Vol. 2’ sounds like the leftovers from another, more promising project. ‘One Of Us Will Be Next’ feels entirely barebones, with Chris Harms sleepwalking his way through the endless title repetitions and uninspired melodies making up this poor excuse for a ballad. Puzzlingly, it’s the hooks on this record that often become its Achilles’ heel (a far cry from albums past, where Lord Of The Lost built their entire appeal on anthemic earworms)— the menacing industrial weight of ‘Walls Of Eden’ is brought crashing down by its stock standard chorus, and the sheer melodrama of ‘Winter’s Dying Heart’ doesn’t fair much better. It’s worrying to see the band running on empty with an entire third volume set to release in April: cuts like ‘The Last Star’ and ‘Scarlight,’ though hardly offensive, are not the sound of a group overflowing with inspiration. Truly, for as strong as ‘OPVS NOIR Vol. 1’ was, it wasn’t necessarily an album crying out for a sequel, let alone one released so soon— now in December, Lord Of The Lost may just be tiring us out.

The greatest strengths and weaknesses of this newest album from the German symphonic metal crew are perfectly encapsulated in its name: this is yet more ‘OPVS NOIR,’ you can be sure of that. Harms and company continue to bring a larger-than-life approach to their work that’s impressive in isolation, heaping orchestra bombast onto cuts like ‘The Fall From Grace’ and ‘What Have We Become?’ in a manner befitting of their dramatic live show. The fact remains, though, that ‘Vol. 2’ feels like a re-run, and one that’s come much too soon after its predecessor. If we had to choose between the two, the remarkable consistency of ‘Vol. 1’ shines much brighter than its sequel’s more haphazard tracklist: if the trilogy’s final chapter is yet more of the same, it’ll be a sore disappointment.