Liferuiner

Future Revisionists

Written by: PP on 09/07/2013 23:42:49

The fourth album by Liferuiner basically follows in the exact same footsteps as It Prevails, Counterparts, Hundredth and countless other melodic hardcore bands of late. They have lingering melodies and ambient passages that are almost melancholic in their nature (see: "Vacant") which are all great, but these are contrasted by hardcore too heavy, too testosterone-driven, too monotonous. In the end, it makes many beautiful song sound too generic and forgettable, because you're often waiting too long for the breakdown or for the breakneck speed passage to end before you get to the good stuff. There's so much potential on "Future Revisionists" that is wasted in misidentifying their strengths as their weaknesses and vice versa.

The difference between a great melodic hardcore song and a not-so-great one is often hair-thin, which is visibly on display throughout this album. Let's talk examples. "Savages" is a standard fare melodic hardcore track with aggressive screaming and a semi-catchy melodic chorus recalling recent material by The Ghost Inside, but it's not much more than that. You've heard this exact track played much better by many bands this year alone. "Vacant" has an interesting slow approach to hardcore, but it tries to be too ambitious for its own good. At the same time you have excellent material like "Feeling/Meaning" and "Waivered Lives" directly contrasting the other material, but most importantly a track like "Fissure" which overloads on melody and finally hits the spot with a perfect balance between hardcore fury, a solid tempo, and back-chilling melodies, especially during the bridge and the chorus. It starts the best section of the album with "Harvest/Famine" being perhaps even a better track, before "Despair"'s mid-tempo delivery drives it home for anyone who's ever liked the modern melodic hardcore movement. While it's not quite as melodic, the faded back lead guitar riff works as a great contrasting element to the harsh screams.

But none of this is really all that relevant because once you listen to "Dreamcatcher", you realize what this band could've been: one of the best bands in this genre, or at least very close to being that. Not only does it have an immediately grabbing lead riff, but it also has muscular grooves, aggression-driven songwriting, and a ridiculously, and I mean ridiculously catchy chorus that would make The Ghost Inside proud. The bridge section later is back-chilling, and in general, all the elements in this song are perfectly arranged for a melodic hardcore song. It begs the question to be asked: why couldn't all the songs on "Future Revisionists" have been like this one?

Download: Fissure, Harvest/Famine, Dreamcatcher, Waivered Lives
For the fans of: It Prevails, Counterparts, Hundredth, The Ghost Inside
Listen: Facebook

Release date 04.06.2013
InVogue Records

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