EP REVIEW: Self-Tightled – Lifetight
Rising from the ashes of Midlands hardcore bruisers LOCK & KEY, LIFETIGHT burst back on to the scene just this July. The four-piece would have the music press salivating before they even hit a stage with the likes of Kerrang Radio’s Alex Baker championing the band’s zeal to succeed as well as their inimitable work ethic. With a core sound that draws on personal experience, not to mention a firm emphasis on encouraging positivity in a world riddled with superficiality, this EP delivers an energetic blend of two-stepping hardcore underpinned by metallic grooves.
Lead single Energy is no misnomer as it comes tearing out of the blocks at a million miles an hour before smashing you in the face. Repeatedly. Harnessing the grit of Black Label-era OCEAN GROVE and the kind of colossal hooks and wanton aggression synonymous with fellow hardcore-punk brethren BEARTOOTH, this is one hell of an unholy alliance. Vocalist Thomas Smith’s insistent cries (‘We can break the cycle / It’s time to put it forward / See what you can do’) around the 90 second mark segues into a fierce breakdown capable of snapping your neck – or, at the very least, send you hurtling straight towards the nearest raging pit.
Whether it’s a relationship gone awry, or reference to a more sensitive issue, there is evidently more than mere creative licence at work on initial listen of both Misguided and Big Boy House. Pummelling drums collide with growling basslines as the former track rages relentlessly against the machine, whilst the driving riffs and seething vitriol permeating the darkened heart of the latter is indicative of a collective striving for emotional catharsis. Fuelled by the positive energy from which this band is built upon, closer Dreams is perhaps the epitome of the LIFETIGHT ethos. Ferocious gang chants alongside an abundance of distorted guitars and dual vocals will rattle your eardrums before lodging themselves in your cranium for days.
Self-Tightled is a self-assured slab of stylish hardcore from an outrageously talented band with shitloads of potential. LIFETIGHT are certainly a band to watch.
Rating: 8/10
Self-Tightled is set for release on November 3rd via Crooked Noise Records.
Like LIFETIGHT on Facebook.
