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Review Summary: Defeater craft an emotionally jarring hardcore album for the modern age. In recent times, many people have speculated that hardcore is a dying genre. Defeater doesn’t seem to think so. Their sophomore release, Lost Ground, is a six-song juggernaut of an EP. Sticking to their M.O. of storytelling concept albums, these guys have refined everything that made Travels almost too emotionally crippling to listen to, and compressed it into a succinct and much harder hitting package in Lost Ground. This time the story follows the life of a fittingly nameless orphaned African-American man as he enlists in the army. It chronicles his struggles as he sacrifices what little he has left for his country, only to return to a ‘lost ground’ that quickly forgets him and casts him to the sidelines of American culture.
Let’s be frank here: Lost Ground is definitely not a happy album. Besides the short glimmers of hope in The Red White and Blues, the album is crushingly sad, and with good reason. The tale told by these six songs is one of anguish, defeat, and stinging critique of America’s all-too-often idolized past. We are told that our elders who fought against Germany either on the frontlines or on the Home Front were some idealized and perfect generation. Far from that, Defeater paints a portrait of callous indifference to those who gave everything based purely on race. While America may have won the war against the Nazis, they lost horribly in the war against judgmental racism. Set years before the Civil Rights Movement would attempt to free the minorities whose hopes for the American Dream were dashed by the color of their skin, Lost Ground is a stinging criticism of the now-sacred past of our ‘great’ America, and serves as a brilliant point of introspection. Through the story of a nameless black man who gave everything for his country only to suffer alone in the streets, Defeater implicitly posits a question to each of us: what judgments do we bring upon others?
But what about the instrumentation, you ask? It’s hardcore. Melodic hardcore. It’s hit-or-miss. One thing I’ve learned about genres is that it depends more on the listener than on the musician. I can attempt to describe the sounds that accompany the emotional outpouring in Lost Ground, but most users already know what they’re in for. For the most part, Defeater is accessible, yet original. What’s more, you can occasionally hear the bass line, which is always a plus for hardcore. The music fits the mood of the album perfectly, and the mood of the album is a veritable ***-storm of struggle. All that remains is for you, the listener to decide whether or not you enjoy it.
| other reviews of this album |
GBJ (4.5)
Defeater release a haunting, perfectly-executed concept album, reaffirming that this band is the rea...
BassDemon333 (4)
One of the greatest EP's in recent years, Lost Ground is truly a remarkable piece of work and gives ...
ToddDay (4.5)
All in all, I think this album is a classic and should be a part of every melodic-hardcore fan’s c...
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I still suck at formatting. Feedback would be awesome. Again, since it's a concept album, I dealt specifically more with the lyrical themes than with the music itself.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
dude. the first two paragraphs are excellent and win (no pun intended), but that last paragraph is such a facepalm.
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Duly noted, I wrote it pretty quickly.
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Second what This Life said. It's a bit of shame, really.
But IMHO, this is worth pos-ing for the potential that this review has alone (this is only your second review, after all). Still, it really could have been so much better.
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3rd paragraph but use some work, but otherwise a good review junsomniac, i pos'd :D
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Yeah there was about 3 sentences about the music, but I especially despise this
but most users already know what they’re in for.
Who gives a shit.
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Thanks guys. It's still quite hard for me to just write about music, especially when I'm just better at writing about lyrical themes, etc.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
great fucking album, good review, but yes the third paragraph does need work
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Good to see you reviewing some more, Win.
Like everyone said, 3rd paragraph was a turn off for me. Otherwise, it's pos-worthy material. Keep up the good work, my friend.
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Great to know! And yeah, the third paragraph was my attempt at making it a little bit more musically relevant. Since it is a concept album, there was just so much more for me to write about within the lyrics and story. Who knows? I may end up polishing it up a bit, even.
Thanks for the feedback though, guys.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
What do you mean 'occasionally' hear the bass? It's present pretty much the whole time. Decent review, although I think the last paragraph was a bit of a throwaway and lazy.
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good review. liked travels much better than this tbh
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
ep rules
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
defeater rules
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I'm pretty stoked this is #2 for 09 on sputnik. Gives me hope about the future of awesome music, lol.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Good review bro. One of my favourite EP's, but I probably like 'Travels' more.
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Nah bro. This is it.
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I feel like this album is much more concise. At 6 songs, it doesn't give you a chance to get bored.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Plus the riffs are generally better, and the ending is even more bittersweet.
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sometimes i feel like putting on a wound and scar and just weeping
but travels is still better
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