letlive. - The Blackest Beautiful (29/08/2013)
Formed back in 2002, Californian post-hardcore outfit letlive have just released album number three titled The Blackest Beautiful, their first since 2010's Fake History.
The album kicks off in an interesting way with the first thirty or so seconds of lead single Banshee (Ghost Fame) sounding like it's being played through a radio before the song kicks in properly with some great drumming by new kid on the block Loniel Robinson (who joined the band earlier this year) before vocalist Jason Butler's unique hardcore style vocals have you bopping your head along to one of the catchiest tracks on the record. After a little outro to Banshee track number two Empty Elvis starts off in very aggressive style, something letlive fans have come to love.
White America's Beautiful Market is almost a rap song in parts. Butler going from basically rapping to singing to screaming almost effortlessly is a highlight of the album. If you tried to put a genre to this song (or the album for that matter) it would not be an easy task!
Virgin Dirt is one of the more mellower tracks on the album. As the track builds it starts to get heavier and heavier and ends with Butler screaming lyrics for quite some time before he takes a deep breathe and says “I'm ok.” A little bit of violin takes us out and into track number seven titled Younger which has the brilliant chorus of “When only the good die young, ain't it ironic I age so well.”
Just for the very bizarre song title The Priest and Used Cars the track deserves a mention. It also has some pretty funny lyrics with things like “I buy my faith when it goes on sale, that's why my holy water is stale.”
27 Club is the final track on the album and also the longest at over seven minutes. The track starts out brilliantly with all the things on the album you've come to love like great vocals and rocking toe-tapping music. At about the three minute mark the track suddenly stops and Butler starts talking through the lyrics with just bass in the background before some of the heaviest music and vocals on the album take us through to the last couple of minutes when the same thing happens again. The album ends with a weird little outro which ends up becoming a disappointing end to a very solid album.
Not counting the last few minutes of 27 Club this is one of the most consistently rocking albums you'll hear all year. If you're a hardcore or metal fan then definitely do yourself a favour and check this album out, you won't regret it.
Matt Barton
The album kicks off in an interesting way with the first thirty or so seconds of lead single Banshee (Ghost Fame) sounding like it's being played through a radio before the song kicks in properly with some great drumming by new kid on the block Loniel Robinson (who joined the band earlier this year) before vocalist Jason Butler's unique hardcore style vocals have you bopping your head along to one of the catchiest tracks on the record. After a little outro to Banshee track number two Empty Elvis starts off in very aggressive style, something letlive fans have come to love.
White America's Beautiful Market is almost a rap song in parts. Butler going from basically rapping to singing to screaming almost effortlessly is a highlight of the album. If you tried to put a genre to this song (or the album for that matter) it would not be an easy task!
Virgin Dirt is one of the more mellower tracks on the album. As the track builds it starts to get heavier and heavier and ends with Butler screaming lyrics for quite some time before he takes a deep breathe and says “I'm ok.” A little bit of violin takes us out and into track number seven titled Younger which has the brilliant chorus of “When only the good die young, ain't it ironic I age so well.”
Just for the very bizarre song title The Priest and Used Cars the track deserves a mention. It also has some pretty funny lyrics with things like “I buy my faith when it goes on sale, that's why my holy water is stale.”
27 Club is the final track on the album and also the longest at over seven minutes. The track starts out brilliantly with all the things on the album you've come to love like great vocals and rocking toe-tapping music. At about the three minute mark the track suddenly stops and Butler starts talking through the lyrics with just bass in the background before some of the heaviest music and vocals on the album take us through to the last couple of minutes when the same thing happens again. The album ends with a weird little outro which ends up becoming a disappointing end to a very solid album.
Not counting the last few minutes of 27 Club this is one of the most consistently rocking albums you'll hear all year. If you're a hardcore or metal fan then definitely do yourself a favour and check this album out, you won't regret it.
Matt Barton