About.com

After six years and four albums, Bay Area band Light This City has decided to call it a day. They had completed recording for Stormchaser when they announced their breakup, and it will be their swan song. Stormchaser expertly blends melodic death and thrash. The songs are fast and intense, but also very melodic. Guitarists Brian Forbes and Ryan Hansen unleash precise riffs and screaming solos. Some of the songs gallop along at a relentless pace, others settle into a more comfortable groove. Vocalist Laura Nichol is a powerhouse, and I’m sure we’ll be hearing from her again in the future. She growls with power, passion and intensity. One of the highlights of the CD is “Firehaven,” which features guest vocals from Testament’s Chuck Billy. Nichol and Billy sound great together. There’s also an appearance from The Funeral Pyre’s John Strachan. It’s better to go out with a bang than a whimper, and although it’s too bad fans won’t be able to see Light This City play these songs live, Stormchaser is a worthy farewell.

Metalreview.com

Light This City - the young, Californian wielders of what's left of the melodeath torch - lived quickly and flickered out abruptly. Stormchaser, their posthumous work of Bay Area-bred Euroshred, is easily the most accomplished record of their too-brief (and too frantic) career, a fact that is simultaneously tragic and ironic.

When the band announced that Stormchaser would be their final salvo, there wasn't exactly an outpouring of grief from the community-at-large. Despite displaying ample ferocity and enthusiasm over the course of their previous full-length albums (a nearly ludicrous three over a five year span), the band flashed little in the way of profound impact. Their last effort, Facing The Thousand, was impressive in its brickwalled, toothsmash, lets-crank-everything-to eleven sheen - but it was still an immature offering, favoring an all-out assault bordering on redundancy. Stormchaser, while not without shortcomings, presents itself encased in a maddening shroud of "what could've been".

Now, the band don't exactly explode out of the gate on this one. Opting to open with a title track built on a lazy, Enslaved-on-Xanax riff before settling into business as usual (even if said business is conducted in a more stoic, laconic manner), initial impressions fail to excite. And despite some impressive lead work, each of the first four tracks breeze by with nary a notable thunderstrike or whirlwind to speak of. Seemingly sensing the stagnancy, the band summons Chuck "I Make Everything Awesome" Billy for a guest spot on the raucous scorcher "Firehaven," and conjures an almost "Fall of Sipledome"- type steamroll. Finally, the cloud cover is lifted, and the proverbial tempest that the band has been pursuing for years finally makes its triumphant strike.

Stormchaser's second half absolutely rips. Bursting and broiling at a thrash-lovin' clip, these songs comprise the best stabs toward Gothenburg by an American band to date. Granted, one could argue that November 11, 2008 is little late to be taking that swipe, but it's better late than never. Also, belated blossoming has allowed slight outside influences to weasel their way into the At The Gates/Dark Tranquillity blueprint; the hints of (very) modern black metal riffing and Jeff Loomis chug-study have only served to enhance Light This City's attack.

"A Desperate Resolution" is a grin-inducing microcosm for their continental crossbreed. The fist-pounding climax will warm the heart of any longtime melodeath devotee; it's like finally seeing your stubborn Chia Pet sprout a healthy mane and flourish in its greenery. "Wake Me At Sunset" opens with a fantastic, galloping riff that wistfully evokes the vibe projected by the song's title. And the final two songs, "Sand and Snow" and "Self-Portrait," intertwine their melody and ferocity in a firestorm of prototypical bliss, fully embodying the essence of this wing of melodic death. Somber and punishing, yet still retaining the air-guitar joyousness that remains the crux of the style, these torrential tracks are a proud close to an impressive swansong.

Impressive, but far from flawless. Laura Nichols has done little to improve her monotonous razorgargle, and rarely (if ever) displays the earthquaking dynamics that her guitarists have harnessed. Ultra-pedestrian drumming also gives this weaponized skillet a bit of a Teflon coating. If all of the tracks herein contained the vertebreaking groove of "A Desperate Resolution," we'd be handing out serious accolades here. 

And that's what's so damn maddening about Stormchaser, and Light This City's career arc as a whole. This shouldn't mark the end of an unremarkable career - this should be the beginning of a brilliant one. We'll never know what type of internal strife led to the band's demise (because the growing amount of hostile scowls being directed at Prosthetic aren't exactly a barometer to judge by), but a killer little spinner like Stormchaser leaves a twinge of sadness nonetheless. The band finally captured their lightning in a bottle, but decided to piss it away. A bittersweet feast, indeed.

Metalsucks.net

Light This City’s blend of traditional thrash, speed and death metal mixed with both NWOBHM and the melodeath of acts such as Dark Tranquility has produced some truly great moments in each of the band’s releases, but the band has never put forth anything that could be construed as classic. In fact, listening to an entire LP can be somewhat of a chore and what’s required of the listener is to wait for that one moment in each song where something really cool happens. More often than not you’ll be rewarded but it translates into all-too-brief passages instead of transcendent blocks of greatness.

Each player in Light This City is impressively proficient. The drumming is able and workmanlike, adapting handily to changes in tempo and blasting through the accelerated riffing, easily keeping pace with the nimble fretwork of guitarists Ryan Hansen and Brian Forbes. Remember these names; whatever project with which they sign on next will be deserving of your attention. The soloing on Stormchaser is absolutely marvelous. Undeniable proof of this comes with the shredding outro on “Beginning With Release,” the third track in this collection and the point where this set truly takes off. It’s followed by the bloodthirsty, go-for-the-throat riffing of “Firehaven,” which features guest vocals by none other than Testament’s Chuck Billy, nearly outmatched by the vicious yell of Nichol. There’s no enhancement of the vocals through effects; there’s no need. I dare say there are few men in metalcore who could go toe to toe with Nichol’s ability to fray the ends of your trembling earbulbs. Her tenacity is remarkable and her stamina is unmatched. That being said, there isn’t much dynamic to her approach and, sadly, it becomes more than a little monotonous after a while.

While there’s plenty of listening pleasure to be gained from arrangements like “The Collector, Part 1: Muse” with its grinding breakdown and the companion piece, “The Collector, Part 2: Donor,” which features a contribution by The Funeral Pyre vocalist John Strachan it takes a number of listens to grow accustomed to this group’s sound and even then you wind up waiting for those individual instances of greatness. In the end it’s a wash. While Nichol and Murray have mentioned continuing on with something less heavy and considerably more “local” to their area I will be watching for the next project that includes the other players. With the amount of experience they have under their belts and the chops displayed on Stormchaser and the other albums, it would be a safe bet to assume their next project will be one worthy of more notice than Light This City ever managed to achieve.

Reviewbusters.org

When Light This City announced they were breaking up a few months ago the metal scene lost a good band. Out of all the new bands that started out at the millennium Light this City was one of the few that were actually good. Is Stormchaser a good way for this band to call it a day? 

With the fourth and final release from Light this City it sounds like Stormchaser is a great way to end the bands six year career. Before the band announced to their fans that they were breaking up they already completed work on Stormchaser. At first it seemed like the album would never make it out. I for one am glad Prosthetic Records decided to release Stormchaser but at the same time I am upset, mainly since the album is really good. 

The album blends together melodic metal with death and thrash elements. All of the tracks are fast and full of energy with enough melodic sounds to make At the Gates and Dark Tranquillty fans take notice. The guitar team of Brian Forbes and Ryan Hansen are always playing intense guitar riffs on this album; their solos really stand out among most other bands that came out around Light This City’s birth as a band. 

Light This City got most of their attention from vocalist Laura Nichol, a female who can out scream most men that sing in this genre. Most people will think that Laura is not really a female, but when you see her they’ll be in love. Her growls are something that are comparable to Arch Enemy’s Angela Gossow. If Light this City was able to stick around a little longer I bet they would have been as big as or bigger than Arch Enemy and it is thanks to Laura’s vocals. 

Final Verdict
If this is indeed the last album from Light This City then I think they are ending on a good note. It is a real shame when a good band like this breaks up from unfortunate reasons. If Light This City decides to come back in a few years that is great, but for now Stormchaser will go down as the bands best album. 

Rating
8.50 out of 10

Billboard.com

There's something decidedly anticlimactic about an album whose creators have already parted ways by the time it arrives on record store shelves, and this turned out to be the case for Light This City's Stormchaser -- their fourth long-player and, as it turned out, also their last. At least the San Francisco melodic deathsters made their swan song count, though, by concocting a very solid new batch of reliably violent, yet surprisingly catchy head-bangers like the evocative title track, the fleet-fingered neo-thrasher, "The Anhedonia Epidemic" (reminiscent of At the Gates), and the particularly memorable "A Desperate Resolution" (boasting even more guitar licks to die for). Light This City also have an amazing knack for sweeping guitar harmonies -- a quality they share with Sweden's Arch Enemy, along with having that all-too-rare female frontwoman (Laura Nichol) capable of roaring as fearsomely as any man -- and they're not afraid to use it, as displayed on additional standouts like "Beginning with Release" and "Sand and Snow." Obviously, much like Light This City's previous albums, Stormchaser's music menu isn't all that unique, per se, and certainly anything but cutting edge, but in a genre often ruled by brawn instead of brains, their focus on writing songs one can generally remember after five minutes is not to be underestimated. And in order to mark their final farewell with a few special treats, the group brought in Testament legend Chuck Billy to trade vocals with Nichol on the pulverizing thrasher "Firehaven," and the Funeral Pyre's John Strachan for "Collector Part 2: Donor." With all this going for it, it's no wonder that Prosthetic Records chose to release, rather than shelve Stormchaser forever, when Light This City decided to call it a career; a career to which it can now provide a very respectable epitaph. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide

Loudside.com

It really is a shame that this band had to throw in the towel. Not just because of the fact that their last album fuckin slayed, but because 'Stormchaser' is fucking head and shoulders above it! This is the album that fans have all been waiting and hoping for and the album that we all knew Light This City was capable of making. And while it is in every way a truly amazing, top notch album, it's also, unfortunately, their swansong.

Stormchaser is the album that would have truly and fully established Light This City's dominance over every other female fronted extreme metal band out there! And yes, that includes everyone's beloved Arch Enemy.

Not since the Swedish melodic death metal explosion has a band managed to combine such massive amounts of melody into their extreme metal arsenal without sacrificing a shred of brutality. 'Facing The Thousand' was full of wicked death-thrash riffing and searing leads, and definitely had huge doses of melody thrown into the mix, but it pales in comparison to this. And while some may have felt that 'Facing The Thousand' would be hard if not near impossible for the band to top, that's exactly what Light This City have done.

From the pristine production and guitar wizardry to the more personal lyrical content, 'Stormchaser' would have been Light This City's defining album. Getting back to Arch Enemy comparisons, 'Stormchaser' is Light This City's own 'Wages of Sin'. And the guest vocal spots from the one and only Chuck Billy (if you dont' know who he is, you're a lost cause), and John Strachan (The Funeral Pyre) only serve to make this disc that much more crushing and intense.

Another praiseworthy element of Light This City is that despite the level of technical proficiency within the band, they're not hung up on trying to gravity blast their way through an entire album while their guitarists burn through a hundred different time shifts. Technicality for the sake of it isn't gonna cut it here. Even with this being their last album, there are (thankfully) no trendy breakdowns to be found and no terrible "Bree" vocal failures, nor are there any unintelligible gurgles, grunts or annoying pig squeals. Laura's signature acidic rasps, with some wicked lows thrown in to suit the song where ever necessary, are all you're going to find on this album. And the band stay true to their epic thrash attack, while incorporating some ass kicking, headbanging rhythms that any metal junkie will acquire a stiff neck from, because this record WILL induce massive amounts of headbanging.

Bottom Line:

'Stormchaser' is the ultimate definition of melodic death metal. While bands like In Flames and even the mighty Soilwork have all but abandoned their death metal roots and even forsaken a large portion of the trashier elements of their sound, Light This City have put together an album that will easily stand up next to the likes of 'Whoracle' or 'Clayman', 'A Predator's Portrait' or 'Natural Born Chaos'. And there's no question that Stormchaser will fit right in alongside 'Slaughter of the Soul' and 'Heartwork' as one of Extreme Metal's most amazing final releases from a band that will not soon be forgotten.

Much like members of the legendary Carcass and At The Gates, the members of Light This City will move on to other musical projects. But if the recent reunions of the aforementioned bands is any indication, we may well see this band return to the stage one day...which will give us the opportunity to see the band belt these songs out live. Until that happens, at least we have one final release....a veritable modern melodic death metal thrashterpiece.

Teethofthedivine.com

I’ve enjoyed watching Light This City evolve from their rough and ready debut The Hero Cycle in 2003 to through their brilliant third album, Facing the Thousand , to what is now their swansong, Stormchaser, a mere five years later. The band has evolved from a mere At The Gates worship to a powerful, polished an professional act on the outer limits of metal stardom on one of metal best labels, in part to the dynamite packages of singer Laura Nichol, but mostly because the band as an entity developed and matured into excellent musicians and song writers.

Now, I’ll admit even with its foreboding horns to start the opening title track, the first few moments of the album hardly impressed me as “Stormchaser” and the intense but relatively forgetful “Fragile Heroes’ hardly signal a band calling it quits at their peek. However, on the third track (”The Anhedonia Epidemic”) and stunning fourth track (”Beginning with Release”), Light This City show why they are so good, as some incredible melody creeps into the razor sharp thrash attack and from there, the album just steamrolls into excellence, and with a closing trio of tracks that makes Stormchaser a more than apt parting gift.

With a typically tight Zach Ohren production and Nichol’s feral rasps, tracks like “Firehaven” (featuring Testament’s Chuck Billy), rip roaring “The Collector. Part 1: Muse”, as well as the aforementioned 2nd and 3rd tracks as well as the somber “Wake Me At Sunset” and stellar closing three tracks (”Bridge To Cross”, “Sand And Snow” and “Self Portrait”) rip and shred with a sense of melody and craftsmanship that only The Black Dahlia Murder seem to have perfected with the same level of consistency and quality on this side of the pond. Oh and those last three tracks? Good lord, so fucking good; from the urgent canter of “Bridge to Cross”, killer opening flourish of “Sand and Snow” and perfectly executed furious end note of “Self Portrait”, Stormchaser ends and album and career on a high note.

I have to wonder how bad things were on the road for the band to suddenly announce thier break up after recording such a great album, but I have to give Light This City credit for going out on such a positive album and on thier terms, and to know when to call it quits. Either way, I wish the members of Light This City the best of luck in their future endeavors and look forward to hearing whatever they involve themselves with in the future

Cerebralmetalhead.com

These days, when every young thrash band wants to be Exodus or Vio-Lence, it's refreshing to hear a San Francisco group like Light This City that doesn't sound like it's from San Francisco. Nope, it's a far more global metallic buffet spread out on the band's fourth (and final) album Stormchaser, with riffs purloined from all pockets of the polkabeat's metallic empire and beyond. The album starts strong, with two slithery waltzes of skintight Lamb of God riffery. At the Gates/In Flames' American offspring own the patent on "The Anhedonia Epidemic" and the riff-rocking chorus to "Beginning With Release;" Testament's Chuck Billy guests on "Firehaven," a pretty kicking Bay Area thrasher. Murray and Smith would be proud of the dual-guitar Nintendo gallop on "Wake Me at Sunset."

Songwriting separates good modern thrash from the un-good, and despite the multitude of directions they point, Light This City's tunes connect more often than not. These fuckers are TIGHT, too. Still, there's something keeping Stormchaser from burrowing into my heart. My guess is that Zach Ohren's mix is too frictionless to carry the energy that this band is capable of. Vocalist Laura Nichol spews spittle-encrusted venom like a female John Tardy, and she deserves thick, juicy cuts of meat to chew on instead of the carpaccio guitars she's got here, especially on the brighter, more melodic numbers. As a result, Stormchaser is a pleasant 50-minute diversion, but doesn't leap out of speakers like it should. Too bad Light This City broke up before they could best it.

FYE.com

There's something decidedly anticlimactic about an album whose creators have already parted ways by the time it arrives on record store shelves, and this turned out to be the case for Light This City's Stormchaser -- their fourth long-player and, as it turned out, also their last. At least the San Francisco melodic deathsters made their swan song count, though, by concocting a very solid new batch of reliably violent, yet surprisingly catchy head-bangers like the evocative title track, the fleet-fingered neo-thrasher, "The Anhedonia Epidemic" (reminiscent of At the Gates), and the particularly memorable "A Desperate Resolution" (boasting even more guitar licks to die for). Light This City also have an amazing knack for sweeping guitar harmonies -- a quality they share with Sweden's Arch Enemy, along with having that all-too-rare female frontwoman (Laura Nichol) capable of roaring as fearsomely as any man -- and they're not afraid to use it, as displayed on additional standouts like "Beginning with Release" and "Sand and Snow." Obviously, much like Light This City's previous albums, Stormchaser's music menu isn't all that unique, per se, and certainly anything but cutting edge, but in a genre often ruled by brawn instead of brains, their focus on writing songs one can generally remember after five minutes is not to be underestimated. And in order to mark their final farewell with a few special treats, the group brought in Testament legend Chuck Billy to trade vocals with Nichol on the pulverizing thrasher "Firehaven," and the Funeral Pyre's John Strachan for "Collector Part 2: Donor." With all this going for it, it's no wonder that Prosthetic Records chose to release, rather than shelve Stormchaser forever, when Light This City decided to call it a career; a career to which it can now provide a very respectable epitaph.

Metalcritic.net

Rating: 4.75/5

This is going to be a short review, because having gotten into a car accident this weekend and being in the most ridiculous social situation ever, I neither have the energy nor the desire to write more than a few paragraphs.

When I heard that Light This City had broken up, I was quite unhappy. As one of the few good metal bands out there with a female screamer, they are a great loss. But when I listened to Stormchaser, I realized that there couldn’t have been a better way to go out. Stormchaser is incredible.

Deftly combining thrash, melodic death metal, and progressive metalcore, Light This City have crafted their best, and last, album. Standouts include the epic title track “Stormchaser”, “Beginning With Release”, “Wake Me At Sunset”, “A Desperate Resolution” and “Bridge To Cross”. But honestly, there isn’t a bad song on the album, and most of them are as original and creative as they are epic and entertaining. One of the only places Stormchaser falls short is the production quality: the guitars often sound thin and weak. The only other possible weakness is a minor degree of repetitiveness from song to song, but that only shows because of how good everything else is. But besides that, there isn’t much to criticize here. Stormchaser is a masterpiece.

I mourn the loss of this great band. But if there was ever a way to go out, Stormchaser is it. A fitting requiem and a powerful legacy for the now departed thrashers. R.I.P. Light This City. You will be missed.

Outburn Magazine

AP Magazine