Living Sacrifice
Conceived in Fire
Solid State
Starting out as a Slayer-clone, they evolved into a total
death metal band by 1994 along the lines of Malevolent Creation. They had their own sound, when DJ (vocals/bass) left to pursue other things. Then in 1996, they put some groove into their sound. It was still heavy, but I was a little let down. A couple years ago, they put out something that didn't even resemble anything they've done in the past. Their latest effort,
Conceived In Fire, leaves a lot to be desired. I've stuck with the band this long, so I decided to give them a try, hoping they've gone back to playing
death metal.
The first couple tracks, "Imminent War" and "Symbiotic" are nice and heavy. Ever since Bruce Fitzhugh took over vocal duties, they've been more of a shouted
hardcore style. The music has taken on more of a groove/tribal feel to it. Only two songs really grabbed me, "Separation" and "The Martyr". That's because they were of the
speed metal variety ala Slayer, but about halfway through each song, they seem to lose it and drift back into their groovy
hardcore stuff.
It's all listenable, and I find myself jamming to this disc every now and then, but this is NOT the Living Sacrifice I used to love. If you're into bands like Soulfly or recent Sepultura, this is for you. If you're hoping for haunting guitar solos, blast beats and double bass, pop in your old copies of Nonexistent or Inhabit. I recently saw them when they passed through Kansas City. Quite possibly the most underwhelming show ever. We get it, you gotta play the hardcore stuff for the kids, but what about us old farts who still listen to the first three CD's fairly often? Maybe a little something for us?
