MORE INFO HERE: https://www.facebook.com/WmseNCFFest
THANKS TO JASON FOR ASKING US TO PLAY.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
NOVEMBER COMING FIRE FEST
WE ARE PLAYING THIS FEST IN MILWAUKEE IN NOVEMBER.
MORE INFO HERE: https://www.facebook.com/WmseNCFFest
THANKS TO JASON FOR ASKING US TO PLAY.
MORE INFO HERE: https://www.facebook.com/WmseNCFFest
THANKS TO JASON FOR ASKING US TO PLAY.
Friday, August 9, 2013
AND TWO MORE REVIEWS
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS LISTENED TO AND/OR PURCHASED OUR DEMO SO FAR. WE HAVE BEEN FLOORED BY THE FEEDBACK. AND SINCE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT, HERE ARE TWO MORE REVIEWS:
FROM DAMNED BY LIGHT:
Lifes is a bass & drums-duo from Milwaukee, and this tape is their debut demo. It's stylish but still rough and DIY-looking, and comes with a mini-booklet including the lyrics and some info about the band and the demo's recordings sessions - written in all caps, of course!
I read somewhere that the band's members have a long history in punk-bands that I've just never heard about, so it comes as no surprise to hear that both guys handle their instruments well and with the needed confidence and rage. The songs range from chaotic powerviolencey hardcore to more moody and sludgy down-tempos. The demo varies a lot during its short play, but overall the songs' mixture of brute primitivism, hostility and all-out aggression with two vocalists shouting their lungs out sounds very natural.
The soundscape is rough and a bit muffled, but it suits the band's approach; the slow rhythm-based passages sound heavy and make you nod your head, and the fastest bits sound truly chaotic. Although the songs have some definite caveman-characteristics in them, they also demonstrate that the duo actually can handle their instruments and know how to imbue some musicality and logic into the seemingly out-of-control crudity.
I'm absolutely fond of this demo. It's the band's debut and as such shows some characteristics of a young band, like the wide spectrum of tempos and moods that occasionally vary very suddenly, but I find this unpolished and untamed roughness to be a part of the tape's appeal as it keeps the listener on his/her toes. Lifes has a lot of options on where to go from here; do they make things a bit more musical, do they focus more on the slower or the faster pieces, do they keep their sound primitive or fine-tune it... or do they keep on doing whatever they want and create a mayhem. Time will tell.
Aside of the tape's end part that could sound a bit tighter and me being a bit unsure of what is it that the band actually wants to do, I have very little complaints. I hope I'll be hearing more from this band in the near future.
4 / 5
AND FROM THIS NOISE IS OURS:
FROM DAMNED BY LIGHT:
Lifes is a bass & drums-duo from Milwaukee, and this tape is their debut demo. It's stylish but still rough and DIY-looking, and comes with a mini-booklet including the lyrics and some info about the band and the demo's recordings sessions - written in all caps, of course!
I read somewhere that the band's members have a long history in punk-bands that I've just never heard about, so it comes as no surprise to hear that both guys handle their instruments well and with the needed confidence and rage. The songs range from chaotic powerviolencey hardcore to more moody and sludgy down-tempos. The demo varies a lot during its short play, but overall the songs' mixture of brute primitivism, hostility and all-out aggression with two vocalists shouting their lungs out sounds very natural.
The soundscape is rough and a bit muffled, but it suits the band's approach; the slow rhythm-based passages sound heavy and make you nod your head, and the fastest bits sound truly chaotic. Although the songs have some definite caveman-characteristics in them, they also demonstrate that the duo actually can handle their instruments and know how to imbue some musicality and logic into the seemingly out-of-control crudity.
I'm absolutely fond of this demo. It's the band's debut and as such shows some characteristics of a young band, like the wide spectrum of tempos and moods that occasionally vary very suddenly, but I find this unpolished and untamed roughness to be a part of the tape's appeal as it keeps the listener on his/her toes. Lifes has a lot of options on where to go from here; do they make things a bit more musical, do they focus more on the slower or the faster pieces, do they keep their sound primitive or fine-tune it... or do they keep on doing whatever they want and create a mayhem. Time will tell.
Aside of the tape's end part that could sound a bit tighter and me being a bit unsure of what is it that the band actually wants to do, I have very little complaints. I hope I'll be hearing more from this band in the near future.
4 / 5
AND FROM THIS NOISE IS OURS:
I had some computer issues yesterday and wasn't able to write as many reviews as I wanted to. I'm redressing the balance today. Firstly, I wanted to start with something fast! This is the 2013 demo from Milwaukee bass/drum punk duo Lifes. Milwaukee seems to be super productive right now when it comes to fast bands, maybe due to the influence of Protestant, the label Halo of Flies and the other rad bands that hail from there. There's actually a link between Lifes and Halo of Flies because Lifes features current/ex-members of fellow Milwaukee bands like Conquest of Death and Get Rad, who coincidentally had a 7" release via that very label. Anyway, punk education over with, lets talk more about this demo. The demo was self-released in April of this year on tape and features eight tracks, including two covers of songs by Swing Kids and Deathreat.
Tracklist:-
1. New Flag
2. Tables Turned
3. Expectations
4. Disease (Swing Kids cover)
5. Northing New
6. Party By The Lifes
7. Fucking Thief
8. King James Version of Shit (Deathreat cover)
I've found that since I started this blog, I've been gravitating more towards bands that act with integrity and do things their own way. Whether it is recording and releasing their own demos and not expecting to be picked up by labels straight away. The metal/punk stratosphere is already made up of way too many bands who've released demos and think they're god's gift to music, so this is where bands like Lifes mean so much to me. This tape was home recorded and that gives it that genuine feeling. New Flag kicks it off with a thick, deep bass tone and drums that flail in ever which way. The vocals are deep bellowed screams that match the music’s furious pace and there’s even some sludge/doom textures lurking within. Tables Turned last twelve sections yet Lifes still manage to get a groove out of it.
The pace slows right down with Expectations, where that sludge persuasion creeps back in with an extended instrumental intro morphing into some hellish fastcore. Disease is a Swing Kids cover, which builds in volume and intensity for the first twenty seconds, before exploding into something quite different to the original. The bass/drum take on the song is good though and Lifes don’t just try to copy the band they're covering. That sludgy reference is still present in Nothing New. I guess the slower parts go hand in hand with a lot of fastcore now as it breaks things up. If it's melody you're after though, you won't find it as prevalently present here. Party By The Lifes is eight seconds of brief bass rumble and Napalm Death inspired grind. Fucking Thief is Lifes longest original song and doesn't feel out of place at all. Slower instrumental sections again dominate the song, but the thickness of the bass almost makes it seem like an actual lead guitar. Ending with a cover of Deathreat brings the tape to a chaotic end. The menacing bass melody lurches forward and the hardcore sensibilities of the song give the tape a different atmosphere.
There's punk attitude a plenty and a sound, which you'll instantly feel at home with if you like your fastcore/power violence stuff. The mixture of fast and slow dynamics and the DIY recording mean that this demo is full of character and heart. Lifes don't care about trends and fashion; they play music for the good times and music that scene kids won't understand. This is a grower and one that will keep growing. Keep your eyes in Milwaukee because it's gonna be raised to the ground soon, if Lifes have their way!
Blow of those Sunday morning cobwebs by checking the entire demo out below:-
The demo is available from the above bandcamp page as a name-your-price-download, but you can also buy the tape too.
Checkout Lifes Storevery page here - http://lifes.storenvy.com/
Lifes Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LIFES414
THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE WHO HAS GIVEN US A CHANCE SO FAR. WE HAVE A FEW NOW SONGS WRITTEN AND HOPE TO BE ABLE TO SHARE RECORDINGS OF THEM WITH YOU BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR, OR YOU CAN COME SEE US LIVE.
SHOWS:
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 29TH @ ALBION HOUSE IN CHICAGO, IL W/ PIT OF SPIKES, CALLOUS, PILLAGE & NO TRUCE. https://www.facebook.com/events/615742468445636/?ref=22
Tracklist:-
1. New Flag
2. Tables Turned
3. Expectations
4. Disease (Swing Kids cover)
5. Northing New
6. Party By The Lifes
7. Fucking Thief
8. King James Version of Shit (Deathreat cover)
I've found that since I started this blog, I've been gravitating more towards bands that act with integrity and do things their own way. Whether it is recording and releasing their own demos and not expecting to be picked up by labels straight away. The metal/punk stratosphere is already made up of way too many bands who've released demos and think they're god's gift to music, so this is where bands like Lifes mean so much to me. This tape was home recorded and that gives it that genuine feeling. New Flag kicks it off with a thick, deep bass tone and drums that flail in ever which way. The vocals are deep bellowed screams that match the music’s furious pace and there’s even some sludge/doom textures lurking within. Tables Turned last twelve sections yet Lifes still manage to get a groove out of it.
The pace slows right down with Expectations, where that sludge persuasion creeps back in with an extended instrumental intro morphing into some hellish fastcore. Disease is a Swing Kids cover, which builds in volume and intensity for the first twenty seconds, before exploding into something quite different to the original. The bass/drum take on the song is good though and Lifes don’t just try to copy the band they're covering. That sludgy reference is still present in Nothing New. I guess the slower parts go hand in hand with a lot of fastcore now as it breaks things up. If it's melody you're after though, you won't find it as prevalently present here. Party By The Lifes is eight seconds of brief bass rumble and Napalm Death inspired grind. Fucking Thief is Lifes longest original song and doesn't feel out of place at all. Slower instrumental sections again dominate the song, but the thickness of the bass almost makes it seem like an actual lead guitar. Ending with a cover of Deathreat brings the tape to a chaotic end. The menacing bass melody lurches forward and the hardcore sensibilities of the song give the tape a different atmosphere.
There's punk attitude a plenty and a sound, which you'll instantly feel at home with if you like your fastcore/power violence stuff. The mixture of fast and slow dynamics and the DIY recording mean that this demo is full of character and heart. Lifes don't care about trends and fashion; they play music for the good times and music that scene kids won't understand. This is a grower and one that will keep growing. Keep your eyes in Milwaukee because it's gonna be raised to the ground soon, if Lifes have their way!
Blow of those Sunday morning cobwebs by checking the entire demo out below:-
The demo is available from the above bandcamp page as a name-your-price-download, but you can also buy the tape too.
Checkout Lifes Storevery page here - http://lifes.storenvy.com/
Lifes Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LIFES414
THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE WHO HAS GIVEN US A CHANCE SO FAR. WE HAVE A FEW NOW SONGS WRITTEN AND HOPE TO BE ABLE TO SHARE RECORDINGS OF THEM WITH YOU BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR, OR YOU CAN COME SEE US LIVE.
SHOWS:
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 29TH @ ALBION HOUSE IN CHICAGO, IL W/ PIT OF SPIKES, CALLOUS, PILLAGE & NO TRUCE. https://www.facebook.com/events/615742468445636/?ref=22
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