Whoa boy here's some killer Death Metal for you to chew on, or choke on, it's so thick. Life & Death is a west coast south Florida band that shreds and that's all there is to it.
Their tape is a 6 song feast that leaves you yearning for more. The songs are all very top notch, and the production just blows me away. This is a professional quality self produced project, right down to the very eerie death influenced cover and insert.
Lyrically these guys keep it at an extreme too. the song Death Drive pounds out the suicide issue unrelentingly. I'd say my favorite song here is Ignorant Conformity, which is pretty much self explanatory as to what it's about. However the song Pits Of Despair really is a creepy song, and gives you chills listening to it.
What makes this an amazing feat is that this is a two man band! Yes you heard me right a death metal band with only 2 members. They use a drum machine on the tape, and pull this off quite well. In fact there is only one part on the tape where you can really hear that it is a drum machine and that comes at one point in a song where they programmed a rapid snare repetition, and it sounds very shallow there but the rest of the songs are very strong.
I love the vocals here, very much old school Death Growl, but you can really understand them very easily, and it's just downright creepy.
Beyond the Gates is full on Death Metal blast from beginning to end, and is loaded with good stuff for anyone who digs old Living Sacrifice or Mortification or the new Corpse album and Crimson Thorn. The tapes were going for $6.00 and they do not have a webpage or e-mail so you will have to write to them directly at:
Life & Death
3521 SE 19th Pl.
Cape Coral, FL. 33904
Get yourself a copy of this tape as fast as you can.
Other Staff Member Ratings
Fetus: 7/10
