Search - Living Sacrifice :: Conceived in Fire

Conceived In Perfection

Troy Polidori | Tujunga, CA United States | 10/26/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Living Sacrifice is one of those strange circumstances rarely seen in modern music. They have been able to improve with every album without failure. When the band released their fourth album, "Reborn", in 1997, I was astonished at how well the slick production worked with Lance Garvin's thundering double bass fury. 2000's "The Hammering Process" could, by no means, exceed tracks like "Sellout" and "Truth Solution" on its predecessor. However, the sheer brutality of "Flatline", "Bloodwork", and "Conditional" ruled the metal world for some time. There was no possibility that any group could surpass itself in the same manner again. Once more, Living Sacrifice has stumped the masses with "Conceived In Fire". This brilliant album begins with the searing "Imminent War". Double bass drums pound into your skull with unimaginable vehemence, akin to that of the bands previous effort, as vocalist Bruce Fitzhugh rants about the futility of peace in the middle east. "No such thing as coexist; no such thing as peace process. Exterminate, proclaim your Jihad; destroy the infidel, dig your own grave." Both the aforementioned and "3x3 We Carried Your Body" show hints of the almost industrial metal side of Living Sacrifice revealed on "The Hammering Process". Not as much song driven as by viciousness to invoke fear upon any who would lend an ear. "Symbiotic", "The Poisoning", and "Ignite" counter the few faults of that direction by evoking melodic death metal, akin to that of recent Zao. The rest of the album successfully blends both of these thoughts into one beautiful harmony of holy malice. The second half of the album brings back old ideas into the mixture of current perfection. Garvin flawlessly leads the band through thrash heaven on "Separation" and "The Martyr". This thrash/black metal mixture is what the band is best at in terms of song writing. They are at their best when meshing these old ideas with the new. Lyrically, "Conceived In Fire" shines as bright as a city on a darkened hill. These guys are not ashamed to declare things as they are. Whether screaming for repentance from a fallen world, or sobering over the suffering that comes with faith, Bruce Fitzhugh never compromises with his lyrics. Like "Sellout" two albums ago, Fitzhugh again excels on one song predominantly. "The Martyr" may not only be the best song on the album musically, but also lyrically. "Burning at the stake of faith; the witness laid out for all to obtain. The sacrifice is mine." A touching masterpiece wrapped in a mosh worthy package perfects the album by adding that one last piece of the puzzle. Living Sacrifice has once again established themselves in a world of skeptics. They have dealt out riffs that will please the most satanic of metal heads while proclaiming the holy gospel of their Savior in the meantime. One of the few bands that deserves such praise as being true ambassadors of Christ."

Amazing album

JoeColeIsGod | FL | 09/25/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anyone that was blown away by Reborn or The Hammering Process, get ready for the latest from Living Sacrifice. It seems a lot less experimental than Hammering, and also seems to have a heavier metal influence. The vocals sound as brutal and menacing as ever, almost death metal sounding, but the lyrics are still as personal and inspiring as on previous releases. Musically, I think theyve improved a lot. The riffs seem much thicker and technical than on the Hammering Process, which seemed to have more of a nu-metal guitar sound (While this isnt a bad thing, its just not as demanding for such a technical band like LS). Im still blown away by this band, putting out such spiritual and hope filled music while sounding just as heavy and talented as any other metal/hardcore band. Dont miss this one."

Too heavy for Satan himself........

Josh Gribble | 10/02/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Living Sacrifice. First impressions of the name gives one the image of a band who is deeply involved in a local underground cult and has a fascination with mutilating household pets. Ironicly, such is not the case for this metal basket-case from Little Rock. This group of five evangelicals makes Pantera sound like elevator music. "Conceived in Fire" is a record that displays variety in timbre, texture, and form. Every metal cliche that is found among the super-metal acts is no where to be found on this disc.
This album contains more sonic clarity than the band's previous efforts partly due to the outstanding mixing job by Andy Sneap. Unlike Christ, the sound is unforgiving. The first track "Imminent War" hits the sinner in the face with machine-gun blasts akin to the US military air-striking terrorists boot camps. Meshuggah influence is found particularly in the precise rythmic ensemble ("3x3", "Reach for the Sky"). But unlike Meshuggah, Living Sacrifice knows how to write a song with a cohesive structure that doesn't sit at the same monotonous level ("Symbiotic", "The Poisoning"). Bruce has extended his voices range with this album and is more articulate than before. Vicious vocals, as if a lion were just let out of a cage. The percussion is very heavy on this record and adds much texture to LS's sound. The minimalistic instrumental "Into Again" reminds me somewhat of Mogwai's stuff but is even more hypnotic. Philip Glass would be proud. This album contains many different aspects of metal: thrash, speed, death, hardcore. No two songs sound the same even though LS could do more to vary in guitar tones. But metal doesn't leave much room for variation in that department. Living Sacrifice has done more with this genre than any other metal band. This is by far their darkest record. Raw brutality at its best. Slayer, Sepultura, Machine Head, Meshuggah, Pantera........ don't amount to much compared to Living Sacrifice. This band's big break is long overdue."