The first release from the great Polish label Lifeline Records was a rather impressive one from Sunrise, one of Poland's most legendary vegan straightedge metalcore bands (who sadly called it quits earlier this year). "Cursed Not Alone" combines the band's first two releases, "Generation of Sleepwalkers" and "Child of Eternity" (from 1998 and 2000 respectively), on one handy CD for a total of 16 tracks in nearly an hour – reminding those that missed out and others who may have forgotten that Sunrise were indeed at the forefront of developing the style of ultra metallic metalcore that's become so common today. The two releases appear in reverse chronological order here, so "Child of Eternity" starts things off and immediately caused me to realize that I had indeed forgotten how blatantly metallic this band's early material really was. It's been years since I've heard any songs from these two records, but this EP was just jammed with melodic Swedish death metal riffs and raging tremolo picking runs with loads of sneering vocals and memorable arrangements. Hell, the title track is even a pretty fuckin' amazing acoustic instrumental!? "Generation of Sleepwalkers" was rawer and a bit more brutal both musically and vocally – slightly more in line with what I tend to envision when I think of Sunrise – but again, the ferocity of the tremolo picking and the overall energy of the material certainly possesses more of a death metal lean than I was expecting. The great thing about all of these tracks, though, is that the songwriting is generally rock solid. They do fall into a few common traps associated with this style from time to time (more so on the debut, of course), but for the most part the speed of the riffing is efficient, and the occasional presence of eerie clean riffs alongside the overall sense of force provide examples of traits that the modern age of this niche of the metalcore genre too often lacks. Here's one track from each release:

Sunrise "Stolen Lives"
Sunrise "Head Against the Wall"

As stated several times by now, hit up the label on MySpace for ordering information if you're interested, and hopefully they'll have some distribution set up here in the US for 2007!

Lifeline Records releases are now available through Interpunk:

@ Interpunk

Yet another from Lifeline Records is "Irony of Pure Hatred", the debut release from No Heaven Awaits Us. The cover art may falsely lead you to believe that this Polish metalcore act takes the more contemporary road and perhaps even utilizes some emo/screamo sorts of influences, but knock that notion right out of your head, 'cause these cats don't fuck around with that mess. I was a little surprised myself, but the truth of the matter is that these seven tracks are simply jam packed with crushing midpaced rhythms, sick chugging picking patterns, vicious breakdowns, and burly vocals. It's definitely far more metal than hardcore, and as a result there is somewhat of a modern edge to the material, but some of that comes from the crispness of the recording. I'm not entirely thrown back to the 90's style, but that's cool, because they're striking a good balance between that moshy kind of midpaced churn and a faster and more energetic side that doesn't venture into death metal territory or rely on any uninteresting fits of tremolo picking or anything like that. The fact that the band lists their key influences as Shattered Realm, Fury of Five, and Bulldoze is no surprise, but by blending in Bolt Thrower-esque runs and a more jarring sense of aggression they're able to do their thing without sounding even remotely like a carbon copy of the bands that laid the foundation. Not bad at all. Keep an eye on these dudes…

No Heaven Awaits Us "Hateback"

If you dig the track, hit up the label on MySpace for ordering information.

Lifeline Records releases are now available through Interpunk:

@ Interpunk