Search - Life in Pictures :: By the Sign of the Spyglass

An album you should know about but dont.

Frankenchrist | USA | 05/07/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Formed from the local scene in Prescott, Arizona LIFE IN PICTURES have been together for five hard years worth of local touring and relentless self-promotion. After a handful of EP's and demos they set out to record their debut full-length under a new San Diego based label headed by the lead singer of AS I LAY DYING. It is no wonder this band has strived to make a name for themselves and it is readily apparent in their recent release that they work hard, play hard and have the ability to brutalize you with reckless abandonment. Their take on screamo/metalcore is much more elaborate and epic in structure without all the expected sounds we have come to hear within this genre. They can crush you with a downpour of guitar hooks and then invite you into their experimental lair that is gritty yet tolerable and appropriate. The howling, agonizing vocals do tend to irritate after a while but the backing music spices everything up enough to where you don't have to focus on one sound. Inside of it all, you can hear vague traces of Swedish metal and even a power metal chord or two. The onslaught of double base work also added more punctuation to a sound that will make its presence felt from both an emotional and physical viewpoint. Quite honestly, this was a top tier album for this style of music.

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