For those of you that are not familiar with this Canadian band, Liferuiner are a straight edge, melodic hardcore quartet hailing from the Greater Toronto Area. Originally, they delivered heavy music as a parody of the straight edge community, writing music that didn’t reflect their actual lifestyle. Things have changed a bit since 2004.
“Future Revisionists” is the title of their third full-length album. After changing their approach to writing music in 2011, they brought a rebirth to their art through focusing on more meaningful content and intense feeling. In other words, they took the uplifting, inspirational approach and it worked wonders. “Future Revisionists” is the apex of a crescendo started with that revolution. It’s a brilliant and pure hardcore statement, filled with feeling, dedication and passion. And with no lack of power and intensity.
And that’s exactly the way this album begins, pulling out from the heart all the suffering and determination and screaming it out with strength in “Vacant”. If that track isn’t hardcore enough for you, check again – the following song “Waivere Life” is probably going to change your mind immediately. The band surrounds their music with a dark and cloudy atmosphere. It’s like being lost in a fog infested forest at night where you face your fears, struggles, your past and your future, your goals and your failures. This is where you face yourself. It seems like you can’t see the end of it. It’s hard to fix details, but you feel all the intensity of every single emotion like in an impressionist painting.
One by one, the album is a continuous flux of deep and striking music. The most surprising aspect is that the melodic elements don’t weaken the sound. Instead they empower it, pushing it forward even harder and stronger. “COPE” is probably the best example of this achievement. More examples? “Fissure” or the first single “Dreamcatcher” can give you a perfect idea of the musical concepts behind this work. They show this band’s ability to stray from the traditional hardcore scheme to accept modern metal elements, building some of the best episodes in the album. The final song “Self Purgatory”, achieves the same result musically. It also serves as a perfect anthem for the whole album. As I stated before, it’s like traveling in a dark, cloudy forest where you fight your fears and clean yourself before finding your way out. Emotionally speaking, this album is a gem.
The undefined details (I mean, not musically speaking, the production is pretty good as well) is both a virtue and a flaw. It empowers the intensity but also brings the band to get stuck in the repetitiveness of their own musical scheme. Which is intrinsic in hardcore music, so if you usually enjoy this music you won’t suffer from this. But if you’re new to this genre you may find it unappealing. It’s pretty much a matter of taste and inclination.
This blinded travel may be different for each one of you, depending on your inclination to this music and the topics covered. As said before, this album is a fast, hard-hitting and deep trip inside yourselves. This album may dig to the bottom of your heart.
– MATTIA
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