If you’re familiar with the heavier side of Long Island hardcore, you’ve likely heard of Draw the Line, Warmind, and LIMIT. And while those bands have all said goodbye to us, a new one has formed from their collective members: Life Taken.
This new band is determined to keep their music true to an age-old tradition in hardcore. Life Taken is about heavy music and fun. And they’ve just released their first demo.
For vocalist Jimmy Longspaugh, Life Taken is about getting back to what’s fun for him in hardcore. “We wanted to go back to the basics of hardcore not taking things too far… I wanted to more traditional stuff too. I’m sick of straight beatdown, and I wanted to go back to my roots and started the sound that is tough but still fun at the same time,” offers Longspaugh. And Life Taken certainly embodies that.
The demo’s third song, “Party All Night,” is all about skating and partying with friends. The music in the song is fast and cascading with a fun up-tempo beat, and the vocals are reminiscent of No Redeeming Social Value. That’s not simply because Life Taken has two singers, but more so because the vocalists balance each other out with Longspaugh offering more guttural vocals and his counterpart Bobby Marazzo offering shouted vocals.
“Party All Night” does bring the mosh, but does so without just being one long set of breakdowns following each other. That pattern avoidance makes Life Taken’s music more palatable and interesting.
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One of the demo’s strongest tracks, “No Man’s Land,” opens with a cool drum and bass intro that segues into pounding guitar riffage. It’s with “No Man’s Land” that Life Taken reminds the listener that their pedigree is very much heavy hardcore. The middle of the song breaks into the heaviest of mosh parts, but is following by an up-tempo part that gives the song balance and speed.
"Your Worst Nightmare,” the demo’s final song, is an all-instrumental that moves with ferocity. Anchored by thundering drums and chunkified guitars, the song manages to keep the listener very much interested despite no vocals. Not an easy feat to accomplish.
The demo itself will see a dual-label release with 51st State Records offering up limited blood-red cassettes and Hardknock Records offering the demo on CD.
With both releases up on pre-order, Life Taken is getting things in order for their future plans. Longspaugh says, “We are writing new songs right now we have shows coming up soon. We hope to tour sometime in the winter or next year after we write, and have a new ep out by next year.”
Get acquainted with Life Taken, and settle in with heavy hardcore that brings the heat and the fun.
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