From their debut album back in 1995, right through until today, these Canucks have managed to create quite a name for themselves, although many feel that the last 10 years or so aren’t all that they might have been. They are famed for describing their music as ‘Northern Hyperblast’, and in their early year were seen as a fairly chaotic outfit who pursued sheer speed over everything else. These days they still have plenty of speed, but have morphed into something that is melodic yet brutal, powerful and essential, and somehow bringing a feel of Swedish metal into it as well. The more I have played this album the more I have enjoyed it as this hits again and again. The blastbeats are still there, and given how important the drumming is to this album I was surprised to see that ex-Neuraxis drummer Oli Beaudoin has been brought in just as a guest as he is key to the overall sound.
This is melodic death metal as it should be played, with a band firing on all cylinders and creating an incredible metallic monster that takes no prisoners. The fact that this album hit the charts in multiple countries on its’ release shows that I’m not the only metalhead that thinks so.
Richard Wileman and I were in contact recently when I was involved in getting Lives & Times listed as an artist on www.progarchives.com. He then sent me digital copies of all of the L&T albums and even after all these years I am amazed that this band never became more widely known. I also find it hard to believe that Richard hasn’t made them available to purchase – hopefully that will be in the near future. So, if you find these albums grab them, but at present they are very rare indeed.
