Search - Life's Blood :: Defiance

Amazing overlooked hardcore

Ryan | california | 02/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I actually don't own this album, but I have been able to find almost all of these tracks online. And WOW, this is some AWESOME hardcore.
It's a shame that this is out of print. Life's Blood play some of the most pissed off, brutal hardcore to ever be played aside from Negative Approach, Black Flag and Negative FX. Life's Blood is hard, fast and spiteful New York style hardcore; but there's a crucial difference in the presentation somehow that makes Life's Blood rise above the macho posturing, mosh-for-the-sake-of-mosh garbage that most of thier bretheren fell to.
I mean, listen to "New York Hardcore: Where the Wild Things Are," released by Blackout Records. Life's Blood is on there, as are a lot of other cult NYHC bands like Uppercut, Sheer Terror and Breakdown (Gorilla Biscuits, too, but musically they're an anomaly on that record).
Most of the rest of the bands play plodding, metallic "hardcore" that to me sounds like crappy Agnostic Front with some sixth-grader's bad poetry layed over the top sung by a constipated wrestler. OK, Breakdown is actually pretty good, but the rest are boring, and actually embarrasing to listen to. But Life's Blood; that's where it's at.
To these ears, Life's Blood form a bit of a bridge between the more upbeat youth crew style bands of the period and the heavier metallic 'core bands. The vocals and guitar sound are certainly couched in the heavy 'core style, but with group choruses, actual MELODIES and catchiness, they delve into Youth Crew territory.
Plus, lyrically, Life's Blood is top-notch, way above the sophomoric garbage that a lot of thier contemporaries wrote. Just listen to songs like "Not For the Weak," "Reckoning Force," "Stick to It" and others. Yeah, they're singing about hardcore (not selling out, etc.) but with so much passion and those GREAT vocals... oh, man. It doesn't get any better than this.
So, if you can't find this album (I'm sure it's damn near impossible to get anymore), find Life's Blood tunes online somewhere, and get ready to be blown away in a biiiiiiiig way."