Modern Life is War "My Love, My Way" CD
[Martyr]
Damn, I've been hearing a decent amount about this band and now I know why. This is powerful hardcore with equal parts heaviness and melody, and it's actually fairly interesting because it's not old school hardcore, but it's not too modernized either. And there's also a good dose of thick post-hardcore textures mixed in there, but they keep their a distance from that general style as well with throaty screaming and some great gang backup shouts. So the end result is really quite original in many respects. Most of the songs run around two minutes or so, but some of the longer songs are actually more forceful and developed. "Self Preservation" is absolutely one of my favorites as the melodic chords get thicker and more diverse, and the overall impact of the song is more memorable - the same goes for the thick open chords and driving rhythms of "Momentum". I'd say loose connections could probably be made between these guys and The Suicide File as far as overall sound, but I think these songs are a lot more musically enjoyable and perhaps creative as a whole. The production is fine by me. In a few instances where light distortion is used on the vocals it starts to sound a little rugged, and overall the mix can be ever so slightly noisy, but I'm not bothered by it. The instruments are all placed well, the vocals fall in with the music, etc. I fucking love the layout. Everything is printed on matte paper and there are a lot of images of passports as well as clocks, a map, and a few cityscapes. The lyrics are great as well, as often the content is a bit longer and more involved than usual, and the way they approach personal messages definitely holds far more weight than average. "Another new beginning: Down the fucking drain. Screaming 'never again' as we watch it wash away. God damn. Disappointment sure does have a way of adding up. But it's all a matter of perspective so we'd better start looking up. Don't give up... 'cause someone said these are our glory days. So let's do our best to beat the misery that comes with being young and fucked up. Time to rise up. Before yesterday's trash becomes tomorrow's hard luck." Highly recommended. Definitely keep an eye on this band. (8/10)
Running time - 24:00, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Late Bloomers, Self Preservation, Momentum]
Martyr Records - http://www.martyrrecords.com

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