Review Summary: A life Once Lost releases a pretty average album that does little to wow fans of former releases.
The thing that initially caught my interest in A Life Once Lost was their extreme intensity. This was what made Hunter and A Great Artist such great albums. They were crazy, off the wall, fast songs that were great fun to listen to. I was really hoping to hear that same style they had proved themselves in. Unfortunately, Iron Gag is way tamed down. Robert's Vocals are not as utterly insane as they were on Hunter and the guitar part's are less daring and less exciting. There is also a noticable southern influence on this album which doesn't really work for them.
Firewater Joyride was the first song I heard from this album and thank god the whole record is not this boring. The song doesn't go anywhere. The lyrics are take a turn for the worse as well. I was severely disappointed by this song, but let is pass simply because singles generally are not the best on albums.
The next few songs get a little better. Detest is one of the crazier songs on the album, but it's very repetitive and it gets old. The highlight of the song is a solo courtesy of Devin Townsend which is all over the place but unfortunately ends prematurely and goes back into the repitition. The Wanderer is Iron Gag's version of Hunter from Hunter and it's pretty boring. There's a few interesting solos but it's simply too long. Worship is a lot like Detest. It's repetitive but pretty cool anyway.
All Teeth is my personal favorite song on the album. The opening riff reminds of something that might be on Hunter, which is a nice change. For the first time on the album, the drums stand out as well as the guitar. It's a fun listen. The booklet says Anthony Green is in it, but I didn't notice it at first. He sings some weird background vocals around 2 1/2 minutes but its small and not very noticable.
The next few tracks don't really stand out. Meth Mouth isn't very heavy and it doesn't really go anywhere. It's saved a little bit by a cool guitar solo. Pigeonholed is not very heavy and pretty boring. Randy Blythe is in it somewhere but I haven't cared enough to find where. Masks is probably the best of the 3. Not boring, but not too great either.
Others Die is probably my second favorite on the album. The opening riff is pretty cool and it manages to keep my interested for the whole song. It has some variety and it seems to actually have unique structure.
Silence is above average, it has some nice riffing but it does little more. It's pretty interesting but not the best. It's probably my 4th or 5th favorite on the album. Ill Will is pretty average as well, but a decent closer.
All in all, I wouldn't download this whole album but a few songs are worthwhile. It has a decent amount of variety, and the instrumentals are pretty impressive. I'll stick to Hunter.
Recomended Tracks: All Teeth, Others Die, Silence, Detest
