Living Hell

Living Hell: The Lost and the DamnedThe Lost and the Damned (2007)
Revelation Records

Reviewer Rating: 2

Contributed by: BryneBryne
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on November 13th 2007I have a friend who, bless his heart, has awful taste in music. There are a handful of bands we agree on but for the most part he enjoys the type of fodder that infests modern rock radio and given his level of intelligence I can't figure out why. His excuse is his lack of a CD player in his car, whi.

I have a friend who, bless his heart, has awful taste in music. There are a handful of bands we agree on but for the most part he enjoys the type of fodder that infests modern rock radio and given his level of intelligence I can't figure out why. His excuse is his lack of a CD player in his car, which is a legit one for when he's driving, but how can he explain the rest of the day? I think most people have a friend like this. I guess some people make the extra effort to go out and discover new bands, while others choose to sit back and have the music brought to them by some evil conglomerate. Anyway, the point that anecdote failed to make is that Living Hell's The Lost and the Damned is the type of album that if I were playing it in my car, he'd ask me "Hey, who is this? Pretty fucking killer." It's a baby step in the right direction, but there's better bands and albums of this ilk that deserve his and our attention.

Living Hell play some pretty typical metallic hardcore, for the most part -- and in their favor -- leaning more on the core than its metallic coating. Craig Mack delivers his vocals in a throaty yell sometimes achingly similar to Jamey Jasta (songs like "Parable of a Madmen" and "Fall From Grace" could easily be mistaken as Hatebreed tunes). The band utilize derivative br00tal breakdowns in nearly every song, but keep them short to the delight of this reviewer. Solos are sprinkled throughout a few of the songs and come off rather well in "Condemned" and "End of Eternity." The closing track, "King of Kings" is followed by five-plus minutes of static noise to end the album, the kind of thing that requires no future listens, and is so annoying it made me completely forget about the actual three minutes of music that preceded it.

Three tracks that garner repeat listens are "Drawn to Chaos," "Mask of Sanity" and the aforementioned "Condemned." None of these tracks eclipse the ninety-second mark, and I suppose that brevity makes for a tighter, more focused sound not found in the album's other nine cuts. The lyrical content is an entirely different matter, though. "Condemned" has some pretty cliché-ridden lyrics that get downright laughable once the breakdown kicks in ("You're not the first... / To try and test me. / You won't be the last... / So take your shot."). Yeah, bro.

There'll be some people in the scene who are totally stoked on this record, and I understand why. But for those on the outside looking in, The Lost and the Damned won't get their feet to stay inside the door.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

xWeWereHerex (December 8, 2007)

ahahahah you guys all suck
im not a homophobe.
the word faggot has nothing to do with gay folk in my eyes.its entered most of americas vocabulary as a word for a tool or loser or whatever.
its true USUALLY i like bands with deeper lyrics but seriously this record is really heavy and the live show makes for a great time BECAUSE there record is so crazy and makes people do crazy things.

and im 15 you dick and im not gonna make excuses for you because ive been going to shows for 3 years and i know that hardcore IS a YOUTH culture...thus the name MINOR threat or YOUTH of today or YOUTH brigade.the bands that started this scene had 12 year old members for christs sake.so shut the fuck up and admire a truly great record in the metalcore genre.

true veins of Integrity here.

bizzlebrizzle (November 19, 2007)

just one season

SilentStorms (November 16, 2007)

How many seasons are there?

bizzlebrizzle (November 16, 2007)

I love Lucky Louie, I have the whole series on DVD.

SilentStorms (November 15, 2007)

Definately have, and Lucky Louie does a great show on the same topic.

"and no you cannot fuck my sister"

Man I still haven't met anyone besides the guy who showed Lucky Louie to me that has ever heard of it.

Score is for that 1st season.

bizzlebrizzle (November 15, 2007)

Anybody see the Curb Your Enthusiasm where everyone flips out at Larry David for calling that dude a cunt?

SilentStorms (November 14, 2007)

"this album rules shut the fuck up faggots.
im normally a lyrics more personal type of hardcore fan but there are some CD's that make me punch a fetus in the face.this is one.sooo heavy."

Hahaha, I love how this post starts with 'this album rules shut the fuck up faggots" and then goes into how he's a lyrics fan.

Actually, the rest of that comment is pretty hilarious too. Hey, I mean c'mon, how amazing would "Punch a Fetus In the Face" work as a song title. Cha-Ching.

Score is for 14 year brats like this moron. Keep it punk dude, keep it punk.

johnnydanger (November 13, 2007)

and if you like comeback kid please never review hardcore records again

johnnydanger (November 13, 2007)

i'm with brizzle, review bad, band good, sentence about your friend = no care ever

bryne (November 13, 2007)

based on your top bands and previous records you have reviewed I am going to assume you don't understand what they were going for or their influences and therefore don't appreciate this record.

Understanding/appreciating something and liking something are different things. I understood what they were going for perfectly, it just wasn't done very well. I gave praise for what I liked about the record, it's not like I just panned it completely.

t-tron2000 (November 13, 2007)

based on your top bands and previous records you have reviewed I am going to assume you don't understand what they were going for or their influences and therefore don't appreciate this record.

Bob_Slydell (November 13, 2007)

I'm curious what about being edge makes you an angry homophobe?

xWeWereHerex (November 13, 2007)

this album rules shut the fuck up faggots.
im normally a lyrics more personal type of hardcore fan but there are some CD's that make me punch a fetus in the face.this is one.sooo heavy.

imjackandihateyou (November 13, 2007)

this record is good.

branden (November 13, 2007)

bizzlebrizzle, you are the fail, my man.

bizzlebrizzle (November 13, 2007)

I mean, it's no Bomb The Music Industry!

inagreendase (November 13, 2007)

This review is asinine, I think I'm gonna order this now since some nerd on punknews gave it a condescending review.

http://www.worldinprogress.org/images/pot_kettle.jpg

sugarfull (November 13, 2007)

two of these bands in a week?

ven89 (November 13, 2007)

Haven't heard the record, but score's for the band. Even at local shows kids aren't into em. And the dread mullets...

SloaneDaley (November 13, 2007)

*their

SloaneDaley (November 13, 2007)

This review is asinine, I think I'm gonna order this now since some nerd on punknews gave it a condescending review.

aside from the bit about there friend the reviewer described the music and described why they felt that music wasn't worth their time. get off your high horse.

bizzlebrizzle (November 13, 2007)

This review is asinine, I think I'm gonna order this now since some nerd on punknews gave it a condescending review.