Shadow of Life

The modern death metal movement continues strong into the next decade, simultaneously giving the community new bands to watch rise to prominence and old artists revive classic acts with decades-long overdue follow-ups. Umbra Vitae would fall under the burgeoning supergroup sub sub genre, containing members of hardcore and deathcore legends. Expectations for this release are predictably low due to this group's background in one of the most controversial genres in heavy music. I was immediately struck by the trippy, dark, and sinister cover art and what message lay behind this interesting album. These two facts were enough to intrigue me to try out this record.

What immediately struck me was the production on this thing. Absolutely perfect, in my opinion. The sound of this record is beefy, strong, and loud while still retaining an old school/new school rough-around-the-edges feel. It sends the message direct to its listener with 100% clarity and pulls no punches in the process. This combined with the incredibly short run time makes this a quick, confident record, while also not being afraid to touch on more ethereal and spacey moments to break up the density of it all. Often times, the best albums save their best tracks for the last third of the album, allowing each track to get better as you follow along the track listing, and Shadows of Life joins albums of this caliber. Though the intro track seems a little tacked on and not matching the flow of what follows, the album wastes no time delivering the fat, groovy opening riff in Etheral Emptiness. This album even features catchy choruses on Fear is a Fossil and Return to Zero, some of the best and heaviest tracks on the whole record.The lyrics match the sound by being extremely dower and barked at you with precision, creating a perfect synchronized aesthetic. Themes range from a hopeless and empty future to the influence of fear as an primal source of societal regression.

Right off the bat, the bands influences are noticeable. These include Gojira, Neurosis, Bloodbath, and pretty much any other old school death metal act. Throw in some hardcore-influenced vocal deliveries, and you can get a fairly clear idea of the sound.

As I'm listening to this record, with each track getting heavier or more aggressive, it becomes apparent to me that this album is an instantly perfect example of how important experimenting with different sounds keeps death metal, and metal in general, alive. The new school of old school death metal that is currently getting a lot of attention has been going for about four years and I am already seeing the saturation point of reviving an old style. What more could this movement provide? Seeing this saturation, and ultimate decline in interest, so soon proves that, now twice over, straight up death metal gets old fast and needs variety to sustain popular interest. Shadows of Life blends two vocal styles together, giving them a frantic, chaotic hardcore edge and a low guttural heavy growl. The mixing buries the vocals a little, keeping the guitars in the lead and making the vocals a supplement to their chaotic energy. Purists will complain about the lack of a "pure death metal sound" or claim "too much hardcore", but I would disagree and say this is a perfect crossover album (albeit there may be more death metal than anything else).

My only major criticisms are the purposeless and forgettable intro track and a slight lack of originality due to the nature of the project's purpose. Another fantastic release to match the fresh greatness of Blood Incantation, Tomb Mold, Gatecreeper, Necrot etc.

I was surprised to hear who the members outfit are upon hearing of this project with hardcore and deathcore stalwarts coming together to make a proper death metal album. As I was looking for some new music I figured I'd keep an open mind and give this a shot, especially since two-fifths of this band are also members of a personal favorite of mine, The Red Chord.

I first came across this band when they led off with their single "Mantra of Madness". I was satisfied with the song, hoping to hear more evolution of the sound once the album came out. The main problem is that it reeks of hardcore influence. They don't exactly break the chains from their primary bands' sounds enough to develop a proper death metal sound. While they are taking steps in the right direction, they need to move away from the overarching hardcore sound if they want to capture said death metal sound. The one weak link that can be pinpointed is their vocalist, who didn't change his vocal style to fit more into a death metal band. It ruins the little togetherness the band has in their sound and takes away from the overall listening experience. Had he developed a vocal style more fitting to the style, it would've made the album less of a chore to listen to.

Overall, the band has massive potential that can and needs to be developed so this can look like a legitimate band, as opposed to a supergroup with vague ideas and little direction. They do show that they have decent death metal chops that can be honed with a little more time and attention. It's a very rocky first step, but I do believe that they can evolve their sound naturally and do hope they prove me right on this one. It was a short album, clocking in at just shy of 26 minutes, but it felt like it dragged itself to the finish and seemed twice as long. Ironically enough, despite the drag, they could've afforded longer song lengths to complete the ideas within each song. Though I'm no metal purist, this could have been a lot better with a bit less hardcore influence and a little more well-thought-out and carefully crafted ideas.