Without betraying their metallic hardcore roots, Danish 5-piece LIFESICK raise the bar on their new EP which compliments their sound with a dark, country inspired twist.
Love And Other Lies, Lifesick’s follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2022 album Misanthropy, is a fascinating journey of an EP, made even more impressive by the just over 10 minute runtime. While not straying too far from their familiar sound, with riffs which take plenty of inspiration from Sweden’s death metal forefathers colliding with blisteringly fast drums and hardcore style breakdowns, Lifesick bring an emotionally compelling and cathartic new edge to their latest EP.
The first of the three tracks on Love And Other Lies, ‘Every Unpleasant Emotion’, is a completely unpredictable curveball, sounding more like a lost Tom Waits or Mark Lanegan track than the maniacally urgent, distorted riffs heard throughout the rest of their back catalogue. Building up around a lone acoustic guitar and frontman Simon Shoshan’s gravelly vocal delivery, ‘Every Unpleasant Emotion’ evokes the darker side of American country and folk music, with morbid lyrics painting a picture of a murder while encouraging the killer’s actions emphasised by wailing electric guitars and layers of lo-fi, reverb infused ambience, this track would be the perfect soundtrack to a true crime TV series. It’s always great to hear heavy bands bring their macabre sensibilities to other genres and it’s even better when it works as well as ‘Every Unpleasant Emotion’ does.
“It’s always great to hear heavy bands bring their macabre sensibilities to other genres”
Second track ‘Rude Awakening’ lives up to its name after the more sombre opener, hitting the listener with an intense wall of ferocious noise. Bringing together thrashy chugging grooves, breakneck blast beats and relentless growling vocals from both Shoshan and guest vocalist Mark Whelan of legendary Massachusetts death metal band Fuming Mouth, ‘Rude Awakening’ represents Lifesick at their most fierce despite focusing less on technicality than their previous work. Although Love And Other Lies shifts through genres the thematic core remains strong with personal topics such as loss and mental illness being tackled with an emphasis on the band’s own journey without distracting from the catharsis of their brutal instrumentals.
Rounding out the EP is perhaps the heaviest track ‘Reverse Birth’, with a clearer focus on death metal inspired riffing and hardcore style vocals. Vocal lines on ‘Reverse Birth’ are venomously spat out with iconic Nails frontman Todd Jones bulking up Lifesick’s sound on a rare guest feature while dual guitarists Nicolai Lindegaard and Nikolai Lund trade between scorching solos, savage riffs and piercing feedback. As the track fades out the band are overwhelmed by an insect-like drone with Lifesick chugging on to the end until they’re consumed by the swarm, it’s a bold way to end their EP but, on a release as confident as this, it concludes it perfectly.
Love And Other Lies does a lot with a little. Clocking in at just over 10 minutes there’s still plenty to dig into as Lifesick both raise the bar on their previous work and boldly explore new territory.