Unlike their label mates Call for Blood, Life As War only have one working gimmick for them, that being they are also of Swiss origin. However, the results on this EP are more succulent but, much too brief.

Whereas Call for Blood focus on girth and bludgeoning you to death, Life as War are more upbeat, more frenzied, more energetic. To tell you this is a high octane Molotov cocktail of fast, fast hardcore with plenty of back-ups, two step parts and fast breakdowns; The emphasis is definitely speed, so think Terror meets Sick of it All meets Death Threat with a touch of Madball (particularly on the crunch of the guitars) for a rough idea of what the band is aiming for.

Of course, it’s every hardcore band’s Achilles’ heel in that they sound like all the other bands out there and those that came before them but then, the always redeeming factor is the energy and conviction delivered. That’s what (in my eyes at least) burrows hardcore songs into your brain and makes you appreciate them for what they are and not picking at them for what they mirror (otherwise 95% of all hardcore bands would be shunned).

Anyway, from the opening blitzkrieg of “Life as War,” there’s no messing, churning power chords drop like bombs and are meshed with fast beats and topped off with snarling vocal diatribes. The breakdown riffs are just how I like them for this style, mid-paced to blazing with oodles of chug and double bass thumping (see “A Crisis Cracking Parody.”)

All but one track (“To tell you this,”) doesn’t break two minutes, and to be honest, there’s no need, there’s just enough time for riffs to breathe and attain a pronounced level of distinction and for the songs to become memorable and not meld into a homogenous goo of white noise. “Even the score,” brings forth some more melodic influences, with clean vocals and more “punk,” style riffing. The assault ends with the grinding, even slightly doomy (I can’t help but think of Turmoil’s “Impending Doom Theory”) on “The smell of death.”

Life As War has a lot of promise, the just need to be locked down long enough to churn out a cast iron full length that isn’t over before an Opeth composition.

[Visit the band's website]

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