When I sat down to review Left Ablaze's "Burn for Me" I was feeling like sticking the boots in. I was burdened by not just the memories of live performances with energy but not much else that stood out, but I was also simmering with the righteous rage one feels when reviewing a band with a member who likes to throw fists at your mates. Thus I was expecting to give a rather satisfying corrosive review and feel a moment of personal smugness. Impartiallity and a desire to write honest reviews without bias won through in the end, but I don't think it wouldn't have mattered much. Under the circumstances, I was probably in the perfect frame of mind for reviewing their EP because I was feeling niggly and combatitive, and their EP matched my mood so well that - To my everlasting regret - I found "Burn for Me" to be pretty bloody enjoyable.
Strange how things work out.
As I listened to this EP through a few times, I heard influences from all over the metal family tree, but mainly the more commercial bands. Slayer, Devildriver, Machine Head and most of all Chimaira is all over the place in "Burn for Me", although the music is not without its own originallity. Song 2, "Whore" is one example of this, 5 minutes of very pissed off music with equally pissed off sounding shieked vocals with a flavour somewhere between Machine Head's "The Blackening" album and "Seasons in the Abyss" era Slayer, but other songs remind me more of early Killswitch Engage and Chimaira. The sound of the album is BIG and production is very good, especially considering the lack of a expensive studio, and this is helped along by some pretty good song structuring and quality musical equipment.
The guitars are suprisingly good in places, with bitter sounding guitar white noise, clever guitar fidgetry and effective multi-track layering in places. The twin guitar attack is worked to maximum effect with spiraling melodies reminiscent of "Heartworks" era Carcass, and at times two completely different guitar lines going on simultaneously like Machine Head does so well in "Burn my Eyes". Despite their obvious ability to use more of the frets than we have come to expect of Metalcore bands, it is in the moments when they duckdive into the inevitable breakdowns that this sort of metal is known for that Left Ablaze really sound their best. The beginning of "Die", the final stansas of "Can you hear me" and "Step Inside" are dripping with slow chunking grooves obese enough to make even the grimmest of bangers want to move his head.
Drums are good, heavy without being dominant or over the top like bands such as Divine Heresy, and pretty much perfect to suit the vibe of the band. The vocals vary from screaming to more of a harsh yell similar to Hatebreed and again Chimaira, and although they are indistinct and often lost in the mix, they are always angry as Hell. They are at their best on "Can you Hear me" where either strategic overdubbing or backup vocals have been applied to create a powerful wall of noise. Although this makes it heavier than most bands of the metalcore genre, the trade-off is that there is very little to "sing along" with. My lady wandered into the room in which I was listening to the EP and asked if there were even any words at all, and commented that the vocal tones were hurting her head. Whether vocals of this style are your cup of tea or not is a personal choice, but I would have liked to hear some nice vocal hooks to make the band competitive with the powerhouse bands of the genre. After all, the successful bands that I see as major influences of Left Ablaze are noted for their catchy chorouses and coherant lyrics. Again, personal taste there.
After listening to this EP 4 or 5 times through, I started questioning why Left Ablaze have been largely ignored by the metalheads I consider to be my peer group. It can't be due to their heaviness because they have moments when they sound really quite heavy, nor the obvious "Metalcore" tag hanging around their necks because they pull off the shit well. I am just as guilty as the rest of us of writing Left Ablaze off as part of "that other scene in Perth" and not taking them that seriously as metalheads, but "Burn for Me" is about on the same heaviness level as Vespers Decent and is a good listen actually. Too little too late now, as they are now defunct, no doubt crushed beneathe the vast weight of their beards. Although there is nothing in "Burn for Me" that stands out as being particularly spectacular, it is nonetheless an EP well worth a listen, and it does make me wonder how many decent recordings escape our notice each year due to our rigid preconceptions.
Food for thought.
Review by Jez.
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