You know, the debate may rage on forever about when Living Sacrifice was
"at their peak." Some say they never equaled the awesomeness of their self-titled. Others side with Nonexistent
or Inhabit. Still others side with the newer Living Sacrifice of Reborn, The Hammering Process,
or Conceived in Fire. Still others take sides saying...the old Living Sacrifice that played death and thrash
metal and others say that the more recent Living Sacrifice where they leaned more in a metalcore direction was their best
days.
Well, whichever side you choose you must admit that the band was extremely talented and made
a significant impact on the metal world. And now with this tribute album released by Clenchedfist Records (RIP),
you get to hear all those great Living Sacrifice classics again. But this time you get some slightly different
takes by a fantastic selection of bands. While some of these remakes are just average, there are some that
are very solid, and others that may just be better than what Living Sacrifice themselves did.
The band and tracklisting is as follows:
Mindrage - Haven of Blasphemy
Crutch - Breathing Murder
Mordecai - Not Beneath
Soul Embraced - Truth Solution
Gnashing of Teeth - No Longer
Kekal - Mind Distant
Crimson Thorn - Anorexia Spiritual
Soterios - Distorted
Clemency - In the Shadow
Mistral - Threatened
Dwell Beneath - Unseen
26days til freedom - Dealing with Ignorance
Dirge - ...To Nothing
Living Sacrifice - Desolate
Some of the more solid covers would be the ones by Mindrage, Crutch, Soul Embraced,
Crimson Thorn, Dwell Beneath, and Clemency. The ones that really stick out to me as being much better are Mordecai,
Kekal, and Mistral. Mordecai is a black metal band and they stay fairly true to the musical integrity
of "Not Beneath" but add black metal vocals, keyboards, and some gothic choirs to spice up the song. This makes me miss
this band SOOO much. Too bad they never released a full length. Kekal's take is also fabulous. As expected,
they change the song somewhat by adding black vocals to the mix. This is just a sick remake. If you ask me, two
of Kekal's best songs ever have been covers...the one here and their cover of Trouble's song "The Skull" on their split with
Slechtvalk. The other great cover on this disc is the song by Mistral. This band adds its own interesting
take on Living Sacrifice. Imagine Living Sacrifice mixed with Therion for an example. The guitar tone is absolutely
killer on this song and the vocals are also excellent. I can't wait for the day that Mistral finally releases their
full length.
As far as packaging goes, there are no lyrics but info on all the bands that participated, pictures
of Living Sacrifice, and a write-up by former lead singer DJ. This is one very cool release that is slowly becoming
hard to find. So if you are a fan of Living Sacrifice or maybe even one of the bands on this album, this would
be a great disc to pick up. (Review by Matt)
