(written by Islander)
The UK band Lifeswallower brings together four experienced musicians with disparate musical backgrounds who combine a wide ranges of influence from rock and metal. Today they are releasing their self-titled debut EP via the Prog On! Recordings label in Manchester, covering (in their words) “the blastbeat intensity of death metal, to the pacey riffage of thrash metal, whilst leaning into the mathematical complexity of prog with a side-serving of their own unique take on things”.
As a further preview of what the music brings, Lifeswallower recommend the EP for fans of Gojira, Morbid Angel, The Black Dahlia Murder, Sikth, and Tool.
To help spread the word about this release, we’re now premiering a sinister and intriguingly immersive video for a song from the EP called “Defy My World“.
The song is lyrically disturbing, presenting the reflections and rants of a “divided shell of a man” who’s losing his mind and seems driven (by at least part of himself) to give in to hate.
The song itself has its own disturbing and hostile aspects, but proves to be music of many dimensions. It brings together wide-ranging vocals (some beastly, some dulcet), spine-shaking grooves, ferocious and frenzied assaults, phases of mysterious and cinematic sweep, and an overarching air of supernatural menace (and seduction).
Lifeswallower set the stage with ambient tones that create a chilling atmosphere, but they then quickly bring in bursts of jolting aggressiveness and add layers of increasing musical hazard, including beastly guttural growls, ethereal whispering tones, and searing guitars.
Hammering double-bass kicks then provide the grounding for riffage that writhes and whines, maddened howls and screaming barks, and elevations of near-symphonic grandeur. As the song’s intensity continues to swell and the music mysteriously glimmers in its upper reaches, the band still inject bursts of hard-hitting groove, and then shift into a phase of frantically skittering fretwork, crazed screams, and fiery singing.
The riffing feverishly darts and contorts but the music also softens and flows as moody singing replaces the rabid vocalizations. The band also step aside to make way for a growling bass solo, which provides a bridge to another effusion of hard-hitting and hard-surging savagery, accented by wolfish snarls.
Neat the end a beautifully swirling guitar solo reminds us of the music’s supernatural aspects even as the band continue to hit with battering-ram force.
The description of the accompanying video at YouTube begins with this message, described as “Decoded correspondence by Allied Forces, sent via the Enigma Machine, between German High Command and local forces”:
5th May 1942.
Outside the town of Lourdes, Southern France.
STOP
Rumours of strange occurrences.
Locals report people missing.
Livestock dying.
Crop failure.
STOP
No further information at this time.
Recommend investigation.
The video mysteriously unfolds, presenting imagery of a cloud-shrouded moon, German soldiers investigating a fog-soaked building at night, a beautiful woman spinning in rain and sparks, and hooded figures menacingly wielding scythes — watch and listen now:
LIFESWALLOWER are:
Benedict Harris-Hayes
Tom Humphrey
James Moffatt
Ben Ottridge
The Lifeswallower EP features artwork hand drawn by Putra Satria Nugraha, and it will be available on streaming services today (see the links below). Below we are also including the band’s previously released video for another cut from the EP, “The Trees Hide Their Bodies“.
STREAM LINKS:
https://linktr.ee/LIFESWALLOWER
FOLLOW:
https://lifeswallower.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Lifeswallower
https://www.instagram.com/lifeswallowerband