THE ALBUM OF THE DAY IS… A LIFE ONCE LOST, HUNTER
Like the best metalcore bands, these dudes from Philly combine pop metal hooks with death metal brutality; and brutal this album is, devoid of any clean singing. Robert Meadows’ vocals were produced by Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe (who also guests on the album), and the dude sounds like he ate broken glass cereal for breakfast with battery acid instead of milk in the bowl; the closest thing I could compare his singing to is a snarling, rabid dog. And check out Robert Carpenter’s solo on “Vulture;” it’s misleadingly simple at the start before erupting into fretboard-smoking fireworks. Meanwhile, “Needleman” soars almost in spite of its own heaviness, and the raw, slowed down, almost spacey title track still manages to work as a horn-raising battle growl for a revolution (“Crush and rebuild/ Destroy and organize”). The music always sounds just a little disjointed, the rhythms just a tad off; if Slayer sound like they’re about to go off the rails, then ALOL have already flown off the rail, exploded, and are now careening uncontrollably towards the village, screaming gleefully all the way.
-AR
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