Reviews list for Life Once Lost, A - Hunter (2005)

A Life Once Lost posed a real quandary for me as I started my first fresh clan challenge in some months here on MA. As clear exponents of metalcore and djent alongside their groove metal elements (neither of which are my preferred sub-genres by any means) I was pensive to try and see how these all fit together. Clearly influenced by Meshuggah with those palm-muted and chunky riffs obvious alongside the polyrhythms, A Life Once Lost thankfully had enough quality by their third album to make these more convoluted elements sit well together on Hunter. Far from being an alienating experience, I soon found myself very much at ease with what I was listening to.

The groove metal elements are very much in the Lamb of God vein (based on my limited understanding of the groove metal sub-genre overall, this is my main reference point here thus far) and there is an odd sense of comfort in this as I listen through the record. Whilst never out of control as such, Hunter does have a lot going on over eleven tracks and so some familiarity to grab hold of is important for me to get my bearings every now and again. I find the groove elements to be particularly strong in the sense that they hold some real power that does not get muted by anything else. All too often with groove metal I soon find myself at odds with something even if the actual groove of the guitar is as I like. But on Hunter I have no real problem with any of what I hear in the mix. The vocals are scathing, and the rhythm section holds a real presence also, and whilst acknowledging the technical prowess on show, never does any of the drumming feel too complex for complex’s sake.

The success (for me at least) of the groove elements are largely down to how well they are allowed to breathe, with the metallic hardcore elements being clear but not oppressive enough to detract from my enjoyment of the album. In fact, whether conscious or not, A Life Once Lost manage to arrange the influences and elements of their songs with a degree of professionalism overall. It might be chaotic, but it is an organised chaos regardless. The groove metal appears to almost explode out of the aether at times without becoming a disruptive influence and as such A Life Once Lost show a talent for making the ugliness that is inherent in their aggressive and spewing style of music entertaining.

Possessing a real sense of having an engine at the core of what they were doing on this record, A Life Once Lost give a good acquittal of themselves here. I won’t pretend to love all the record though and for all my positives around the clarity of the record there is still a sense of things needing an esoteric ear to truly fathom the whole record which I do not always have the patience to lend, certainly on repeated listens/visits. However, for a record that presented me with some sense of being daunted by Hunter is a triumph over that slightly narrow-minded expectation I had set at least.