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[heroes-fading]

re-learning to use this website is making me feel approximately a million years old. what’s UP.

[breakingthecrown]

Between Here and Lost by Love & Death, Review

By Dan #d

(view my personal Tumblr here)

Album: Between Here And Lost

Artist: Love & Death

Genre: Nu Metal/Alternative Metal

Label: Tooth & Nail

Release Date: January 22, 2013

Korn are one of my favorite bands. But its sad to say, I haven’t really ventured onto many of the members’ side projects. I actually stumbled upon this album by accident. I knew Brian “Head” Welch (guitarist for Korn) had a solo career, but he’s super religious so I had no interest in checking out his solo stuff. Then I stumbled upon his band, Love & Death, by accident and was blown the FUCK away. Holy shit, this is an amazing album.

I instantly knew it was Welch on the opening track, The Abandoning. Cane Hill came pretty close to sounding like Korn (not meant as in insult) on their debut Smile with their riffs. But there is something about the way Welch plays guitar or has it tuned that I can tell it is him. The song talks about pleading for a master to save Welch because he can’t save him from himself. I appreciate him not saying God or Lord, who he is actually probably referring to since he is super religious. Makes it more appealing to a general fan base. Proceeding next is Whip It, a cover by the band Devo. I didn’t recognize the title or band so I YouTubed it…some weird 80s up-tempo rock with people wearing cones on their heads (don’t mean to sound ignorant, but that shit looked weird).  Love & Death improved the song to my liking by metalizing it. Welch continued his low-tuning style through this song. Which I thought he might only be doing for one song, just as an ode to Korn. But he continued it through the album which I have no problem with.

By the fourth track, By The Way, I started to think how the average metal fan would probably be annoyed with the low-tuned riffs by now. But I was loving it, and the lyrical themes that accompanied them. This song is about a relationship ending, and how hard it was to live again. But the person who left is never going to know the struggle Welch had to go through. Probably better that way. The whole friendship after breaking up has never been my cup of tea. Proceeding this song, I became even more mind blown. Meltdown opens with Welch saying to a silent background “I think I’m having a meltdown” and then goes into an awesome riff. My instant response was “fuck yes”. Introducing screams to the album, there are some brief screams on the chorus and I’m all about it. I wouldn’t be mad if there were some more. It calms down at the bridge and mellows out. Then instantly goes into the same amazing riff from the beginning of the song. And instantly again I am like “Fuck yes. This is some fucking epic shit!”.

Its really hard to not praise every song on this album, besides the song Fade Away. I’m sure you can tell by the title it’s not an original subject. Neither were the lyrics. But skipping ahead a few tracks is a guest appearance by For Today vocalist, Mattie Montgomery. He appears on the track I  W8 4 U (Hey! 4 U is a Korn song… was that on purpose?). I was hoping for more screams, and I got them on this song thanks to Montgomery. Kind of beating around the bush a little bit, is the song Chemicals. An obvious reference to Welch’s prior drug use, because why else would you be a “A fallen friend, [with] no family.”? It’s because of “…the burn Of chemicals”. The standard edition of the album ends on a somewhat soft note with the song Bruises, where for the first time a piano is present. However it speeds up at the bridge when Welch picked up his guitar again. If you were like me however and got the deluxe edition, you get the bonus track Empty. Probably the most diverse song on the album; it opens with Congo drums! I love towards the end of the song when Welch sings the line “remove the stain of your curse”, with just him singing and the electric guitar. Especially since proceeding in the prior verse he was screaming. I think it’s cool when songs go from loud to soft, or vice versa. Maybe that’s why I like grunge. Oh and there are remixes of The Abandoning and Meltdown. But I don’t give a shit about remixes.

This album is freaking fantastic. I’ll give it a 4/5. I refrain from a complete 5, just cause as much as I love the nu metal/low tuned guitars, I think they can be just a smidge redundant. Besides that, this album is fucking awesome. Almost no throw aways or “b-sides”.