Friday March 29th 2024

Out.Live.Death. – “We Ain’t Dead Yet”

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Out.Live.Death. – “We Ain’t Dead Yet”

 

When Andy & I started TNB four years ago (merely as a tax write-off) it was supposed to be a site covering only New England punk, metal and hardcore.

But one day we received a CD from a New York band called Life Fast Die Fast. I thought it was so good we should review it and Andy agreed. He did have a little trepidation though, he said, “We usually like to see the bands live before we review them.”

I said, “This band is from New York, we’ll probably never see them.”

Andy reviewed the CD and then about a month later we heard they were playing Boston for the first time, playing Refuse Resist’s farewell show at the Midway.

But the point of this story is that Live Fast Die Fast broke the New York barrier for us and though we’ve since seen and reviewed so many great bands from New York, Live Fast Die Fast has always remained my favorite.

And though that band recently met its demise, we were happy to hear that Paul T., the singer of Live Fast Die Fast, had a new band called Out Live Death- and better yet that he had some material for us to hear.

But a blast from the past is no guarantee that your good thang is gonna last!

But I’m here to tell ya- that this band does the politically charged, socially conscious New York hardcore without an overabundance of metal influence and staying more true to the original hardcore sound of such bands as Minor Threat, Circle Jerks and Fear.

And this is why I like them so much. And this is why I think you should give this great new band a listen. Shall we?

After a short sound sample “Remains The Same” bolts out of the starting gate and grabs your attention by grabbing you by your balls with an intense, hardcore vocal backed by a slashing, metal-ish guitar. Plus a chopping, take no prisoners rhythm section laying waste to all in its way. “How much has it changed?/ But still the same meaning/ This is our home/ It keeps my heart beating.” My heart’s beating double-time with the passion and excitement that leaps off the grooves of this album into my ears and the pores of my skin. “We always spoke our minds when no one would listen/ We’ll never turn our back or fall to division/ We broke from the norm/ We all found the courage/ Tore down the walls/ To carry out the message.” This song pulls no punches while punching hard with musical uppercuts and jabs. This song knocks out all the lies and the bullshit of life with one pure stab of passion and power. “It’s in our blood/ It’s in our veins/ Stand as one, don’t be ashamed.” I’m proud as fuck just to hear a song as great as this one.

“Down The Line” starts with some rolling rhythms and some string slidin’ screeching guitar, all setting it off like a lit keg of dynamite. “We are the children in the shadows/ The ones you choose to leave behind/ Living life behind a rotted wall/ No exit out we are confined.” But this song smashes through all barriers with a pounding beat, in your face vocals that somehow reminds me of “I Don’t Care About You” by Fear. The chorus has some call and response vocals with guitars and drums that lurch, push and pulverize- punching holes into the song and the side of your skull. “We cannot be pushed further down the line/ This is not a world away/ This is our path.” This song is a powerful, potent package of passion- perfect, pure and poised in its aim.

With out a second to spare, “We Ain’t Dead Yet” is in your face and in your gut, hitting hard with a guitar crunch that wouldn’t be out of place on a Motley Crue tune along with a vocal that is intense, true and heartfelt. “Abandon judgment/ Fuck your rules/ A populace that’s filled with fools/ We can tell the truth from lies/ Not the deceit that’s been disguised.” These are lyrics that match the eloquence of John Lydon. And if you think that’s small praise that’s your opinion, certainly not mine. This song moves along until it changes to a pounding, one hit to the beat hardcore thrash with ominous metal chords soaring above. “Years of apathy, no common sense/ No defending your ignorance/ Intolerance continues to pollute/ Lies always sound better than the truth.” This song is a rocket of intense, passion and guts shot into the center of your soul.

Out. Live. Death. Is the name of this band and a damn good band it be.

And obviously, it’s name is influenced by the band it grew out of- Life Fast Die Fast- but we always loose to death in the end- it plays the final card.

But what outlives death is the passion, is the guts, is the integrity, is the truth we carry. It’s whatever is good in us and whatever makes our scene so great lives on, and I believe, will never die- will out live death.

Look at all the great bands in the history of punk, metal and hardcore who are dead and gone. Most of them, hardly popular in their lifetime, but their inspiration lives on in so many bands, in so many people, in so many hearts- it’s amazing.

Bands will break up, people will die, but passion, truth, awareness and fun lives on in all of us.

That’s why I am certain that I will outlive death. Because though I’ll fade away, eventually, everything I believe in will last. Simple as that.

And I believe in Out Live Death, I think you should give them a chance. I think you’ll like them.

In fact, I’d bet my life on it.

(Slimedog)

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