MORE THAN LIFE: LOVE LET ME GO – REVIEW BY BRIAN JAMES

Despite the many different genres and factions, hardcore has always been a style of music bred from emotion. Whether personal, political, social, or abstract, the music has always been executed with a primal sort of visceral instinct. 

Every few years a band comes around that is able to capture more specific areas of feeling than others. One such band is the South West UK’s MORE THAN LIFE. Emerging onto the scene in 2007 with their self-produced EP aptly titled PRELUADE, More Than Life began carving out a style of music as furious as their passion to be heard. The band exhibits such a frantic style of instrumental onslaught that one will be amazed how they manage to tie it all back together just before the train wrecks.

Their latest release LOVE LET ME GO out on ANCHORS AWEIGH RECORDS finds the band completely primed for international admiration. The record as a whole evokes an experience of Greek tragedy in audio form, violent and catastrophic. Rising and falling, building steam and crashing to a halt. The vocal delivery is an agonizing compliment to the lyrical content of heartbreak and loss.

It’s hard to say why certain bands shine above others. There are many factors involved. If you were to base it solely on the music alone, which is not always the deciding factor of a bands success, More Than Life is a band to float to the top.
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Label(s):  Purgatory Records | Anchors Aweigh Records | Day By Day Records

Recorded in February 2010 at The Cros Nest, Croydon
Recorded and mixed by Sam Threader
Mastered by Martin Nichols at The White House, Kewstoke

GIVE EM HELL: CALIFORNIA HARDCORE VOLUME 1 - REVIEW BY BRIAN JAMES

It started in 2008 with the debut release of WE ARE THE WOLVES on WESTCOAST WORLDWIDE RECORDS. Since then, GIVE EM HELL have remained quietly dormant, gathering steam, waiting for the right moment to rise back up from the ashes to reclaim the throne. 2011 is that year.

Teaming back up once again with Westcoast Worldwide, Give Em Hell are back with their first of three EP’s scheduled for a 2011 release. CALIFORNIA HARDCORE: VOLUME 1 continues the progression of their Nor Cal style of street-level hardcore with a more mature and evolved message of strength, struggle, and unity. From the gut-wrenching surprise intro, to the final reflective fade-away, Volume 1 bounces back and forth between classic hardcore breakdowns, gang vocals, and an all out flurry of breakneck speed and aggression.

The bands re-emergence onto the scene with new drummer Craig Spinelli brings a fresh sense of vitality and urgency to an already brilliant line-up of hardcore acts on Mikey Hood’s WWR. Adapting to creative marketing techniques in the post-internet music industry, the band wanted to do something more significant than just releasing a full album of new material. Instead they opted to release three separate EP’s throughout the year. It’s the gift that keeps on giving for fans of Remembering Never, Reign Supreme, and Out For Revenge.