EP REVIEW: Life’s Question – Life’s Question

Since the release of their debut full-length World Full Of…, LIFE’S QUESTION have had the attention of the hardcore scene, with fans and critics alike waiting with bated breath to see what they had in store further down the line. Now, you would expect many bands to crumble under such pressure, or to attempt to change things up to take their sound in a more commercially viable direction, but this is simply not the way that LIFE’S QUESTION work, with the Chicago group doubling down on all of the things that made them noteworthy in the first place and grouping them together in their new self-titled EP.

From the opening chords of the first track Light Me Up, this record seems to embody old school hardcore. However, that could not be further from the case. The punchy riffs and booming rhythm section lay down the foundations for an impressive guitar solo before the vocals come in, and when they do there is a melody that catches the listener a little off guard, sounding like it could have come straight from the cutting floor of a KORN album. Later in the song the wandering bass lines and gang vocals flip the script again to keep things interesting.

The intro riff on the second track I Can Still Hear My Mama Pray sets the whole pace of the track nicely. This song has a lot more groove than its predecessor, and the message is one of personal strife and emotional turmoil, with the bouncy riff forcing you to nod your head almost against your own will.

Brass Coffin is way more straightforward, with the main riff and first verse sounding like something you would have expected on one of the earlier CANCER BATS albums. However, as the song progresses you are greeted with intricate guitar solos and haunting melodies that are more in keeping with classic metal. This is an EP that is designed to keep you guessing and to ensure that the listener never knows what the next bar could contain.

When I Meet God has the kind of grit and attitude that makes you want to throw yourself headlong into the nearest mosh pit, yet the chilling clean vocals from Abby Rhine call you back like a siren, with her ethereal tone. Then just as you are starting to relax… BOOM! – one of the heaviest breakdowns of the year lifts you clean out of your boots with an uppercut that would floor Mike Tyson himself. This is the mad world of LIFE’S QUESTION, and we are all just blissfully living in it.

The closing track Something Out There is a masterpiece. This is the band slamming the breaks on and showing their melodic side, before getting bored halfway through and throwing down a New York hardcore-inspired rager before shifting back towards the dulcet tones that opened the song. The fact that the band can craft these kinds of songs in the seamless way that they have accomplished here is nothing short of exemplary and despite the graft that undoubtedly goes into every minute of this eponymous release, the band make it sound easy.

Rating: 8/10

Life’s Question is out now via Flatspot Records.

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