iTunes pre-orders for Stray From Path’s new album ANONYMOUS go live at midnight TONIGHT. You’ll receive a FREE track, “False Flag” instantly when you preorder.
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Full disclosure; I showed up late and missed the first few bands.
When I finally arrived, For All Those Sleeping were in the middle of their set. I walked around and checked out merch for a bit. To be honest, I didn’t watch the next two bands, IWABO or CTC, for obvious reasons. Stray From The Path finally took the stage and got the crowd going with their new single, Badge and A Bullet. Which is very Rage Against The Machine influenced, if you ask me. Before they played, I made a comment to their guitarist Tom about dedicating their song iMember to CTC and FATS, which he thought was hilarious but they didn’t play the song unfortunately.
Up next was the legendary hardcore band, Terror. Scott Vogel, the vocalist, called for many stage dives, which the crowd happily obliged to. I was impressed that an actual hardcore band, let alone Terror, were playing this tour; I guess they were high up on the bill so they didn’t care who they played with.
Veil of Maya, who I have seen many times, were up next. The crowd noticeably dwindled down for them but I’m sure that the kids that left were the ones with the trendy Keepers of The Faith hoodies.
Cardona, a local GA metal band that played downstairs in the venue, were kicking butt as they headlined the local stage that night. After them, I walked back upstairs to see Chelsea Grin. Alex’s vocals actually sounded really good compared to when I saw then on their headliner last year. The newer material was awesome; Jason’s influence has definitely made the band step it up musically.
The lights go out. Paul Engemann’s “Push It To The Limit" is blaring over the PA. Every Time I Die walk on stage; chaos ensues. Buffalo, NY’s finest open their set with We’rewolf from “The Big Dirty” and the crowd goes nuts. The band convinced the venue to allow stage diving that night, which made the show so much better. The band played 23 songs, 12 of which were all from albums ranging from “Gutter Phenomenon” to their latest release, “Ex-Lives”. After the first 12 songs, they walked off stage for a short intermission and then returned to play their 2003 release, “Hot Damn!”, front to back. Nothing more needs to be said.
Every once in a while, a band will come out of nowhere and blow everyone else out of the water. letlive is that kind of band, and “The Blackest Beautiful” is that kind of record.
letlive (yes spelled like that) is rebellious, aggressive, funky and addicting all in one sound. The pack leader, Jason Butler (vocals), is ignited from start to finish on this album and burns until there is nothing left in him, and then he gives it a little more. He sets a lyrical flame on every song with a jagged sound, gutter screams, and a scaling voice that can peak and descend at any moment. The band will get their point across in every song and their themes are very powerful. letlive has a running aspect of having strong, mature, and honest lyrics in all their songs, and that stands true here. In fact, vocally and lyrically this is letlive’s greatest work. Jason Butler absolutely killed it, and he will kill it every show he plays. letlive puts on one of the energetic live performances you’ll ever see. Musically letlive has some incredible musicians. The guitar and bass work is top notch and extremely creative with a mix of thrash, emotional overtones and odd rhythmic patterns, while the drumming accents and conducts the overall orchestration of each song.
The first single and music video from the album, “Banshee (Ghost Fame)”, gives a very broad idea of what the entire album is like. “Empty Elvis” is a straight up aggressive ‘Rage Against The Machine’ style track, while a song like “Virgin Dirt” might be the darkest and moodiest song letlive’s ever created. The band took what they did in their last critically acclaimed album, “Fake History” and outdid themselves. A couple songs that really stood out were “White America’s Beautiful Black Market”, a song that is a call to arms with political shout-outs and emotional words, and “Dreamer’s Disease”, a thrashy track about brute honestly in this world.
Honestly, listening to this album is a lot to take in. It’s one of those album that you’ll listen too once through and have to replay the entire thing because you won’t believe what you’re listening too. It’s an incredible record to say the least. Some transitions between choruses felt a bit forced on a couple tracks, but overall they made it work. letlive is going to take the lead in the post-hardcore scene. Do yourself a favor and check out “The Blackest Beautiful”, and see letlive’s incredible live show this year on the Vans Warped Tour.
9.5/10
It’s been awhile since music has had a rebellious voice. Not since Rage Against the Machine put their fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy has there been such an unmitigated combustion of sonic ferocity fueled by relentless passion and intrepid ideology. At least not until letlive. came along…
LA’s volatile four-piece rock band fanned the flames of discontent with their critically praised record, Fake History, for a new generation of fans three years ago, and today have announced their long-awaited return with one of the year’s most anticipated albums, The Blackest Beautiful, due out on July 9th via Epitaph Records. letlive. has premiered their first new song, “Banshee (Ghost Fame),” in the form of a powerful video today. Additionally, fans who pre-order The Blackest Beautifulstarting today at letlivestore.com will receive an instant download of “Banshee (Ghost Fame).”