Night Lives is a fresh sound in the music scene of Joensuu, Finland. Their hardcore sound instantly triggers an image of the hardcore monster Converge in my mind. Night Lives released their debut LP titled Shadow Of Man this month. The album contains 8 strong hardcore songs with a bit of sludge and post-metal thrown in the mix for some personality.
I had heard of Night Lives in early 2014 when I heard a couple of songs from the upcoming album from their bandcamp-site.
Shadow Of Man is divided into 2 sides as it's only released as vinyl and digital download (links below). The A-side starts with a track called No Dawn which demonstrates the band's contrast-filled sound of hardcore and post-metal. The second track Burn Tradition was probably the first track I heard of this band. This track brings more of that hardcore punk element to the album which then continues in the track Vows. Strong riffs and the vocal sound accompany each other through the track which ends on a melodic and melancholic lead guitar melody/riff. The last track on the A-side is called Break which is pure Converge-styled HC.
We then switch to the B-side which starts with a mellow and eerie intro to the song First Tide. The song develops into a huge crushing explosion. The song then connects itself to the next track Last Wave which continues with the energy-filled punk riffs. After that the record calms down to the title track Shadow Of Man which starts with a cello intro giving the song some distance from the rest of the album. Shadow Of man is clearly my favorite track of the album as it sticks out the most of the eight songs. The last song Dawn is a slow closing track that has a lot or melodic guitar leads and post-metal-ish crushing.
Over all the album reminds me a lot of the epitome-record Jane Doe of Converge. I will definitely check Night Lives out in Ilosaarirock this summer
Shadow Of Man is available for download for only 6€ @ nightlivesband.bandcamp.com.
Peace
- Matti
