Overcome

Item: The Life of Death
Author: Glenn Harper

The Life of Death

(1998)

Reviewed by Glenn Harper

Discogs YouTube

Label Facedown RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth1998

hardcore hardcore punk lo-fi metalcore

Overcome was signed to Tooth & Nail in the early summer of 1995, and promptly overlooked by the label. Sporting an excellent live show, their two albums on Tooth & Nail (Blessed are the Persecuted and When Beauty Dies) boast quite a few very promising songs with relatively unique new school hardcore stylings. Both albums are undone, however, by absolutely atrocious production; if Tooth & Nail had invested in a quality producer for one of Overcome's albums, perhaps the band would have recorded an album to rival Strongarm's masterpiece, Atonement. As both albums were considered disappointments, however, Overcome and T&N parted ways. Which brings us to the present.

Their latest release, The Life of Death, is rather disappointing musically. The band seems to have used up their songwriting talents on the two Tooth & Nail albums. Both previous works were, despite their raw sound, powder kegs exploding into some unlucky pair of headphones. The listener was forced to sit up and take notice. On The Life of Death, none of the songs sport a really killer riff that catches the listener's attention. Thus, the album sounds merely average on the first listen, and steadily worsens with each subsequent listen. Perhaps these songs translate better live, but there's nothing on this release that corresponds to the raw firepower of the previous two releases. It should be noted, however, that the production is about average for an indie release, which is a step up from their previous albums. The vocals are about par for the course as far as the hardcore scene goes (a mid-pitched throaty growl permeates the album). So, while the album is somewhat of an improvement with regard to production, it suffers yet from mediocre songwriting.

The lyrics are of about the same quality as most other Christian hardcore acts; topics vary from pride to submission to the emptiness of worldly life. "Thorns Compose" is probably the lyrical highpoint, reading just like a church hymn:

when i survey the wondrous cross
on which the prince of glory died,
my richest gain i count but loss
and pour contempt on all my pride

Pretty lyrics for such heavy music! So, lyrically, The Life of Death has its highpoints, but is generally standard Christian hardcore fare.

This album has some almost fatal flaws, but it is merely an EP, giving fans a little morsel to chew on before the band records another full-length release. While I will still check out future releases from Overcome, I would not recommend this album to anyone but serious hardcore fans.

1.5 tocks