“Sick sad gospel created by man.”
It’s just shy of two years since it looked like The Last Ten Seconds Of Life had a substantial shake-up of line-up, with Wyatt McLaughlin being the only member to feature on the previous full-length and title self-titled record. The main switch was Tyler Beam, who joined from Promise Breaker, replacing John Robert Centorrino who is now of Crystal Lake. Releasing EP Disquisition On An Execution later that year, the new line-up hereby enters a new era with a brand new full-length, titled No Name Graves.
As was evident on the aforementioned EP that displayed the new line-up, The Last Ten Seconds Of Life were not going to deviate too far from the sound they had become known for over many years. Opening tracks “Of All Humanity, the Sum” and “Letania Infernalis” display crunchy riffs and rapid double kicks ad infinitum. Along with a popping snare, these kicks give the track a certain rapid brute force with some nice fill work inbetween. It’s hard to disagree that these songs aren’t powerful.
As No Name Graves moves through its title track and “Body of a Bastard“, Beam begins to flex their vocal ability, moving between deep gutturals and snarling harsh vocals. Although it is here and as it moves from the midpoint and onwards on the likes of “Feel My Fangs in You” that there does seem to be a lot of ‘heavy for the sake of heavy‘; moments made to make a diabolical react-YouTuber pull a strange face while sitting in a poorly lit office space.
There is also a subtle shift towards a more metal influenced sound here, on tracks such as “Doomsdays Death Trap” and the guitar solo that closes out “Debt to the Dark“, moving away from the beatdown-esque manner of their previous full-lengths. It will ultimately come down to preference of taste between the two approaches, but it does feel challenging to get excited at the prospect of another band head in that direction.
Those looking for something absurdly heavy that they can throw onto a playlist with several other bands who will sit in a very similar vein will be more than content with No Name Graves. Those looking for something more adventurous and challenging are better suited taking a look at other deathcore units that cropped up in recent years to get their fix.
5/10
No Name Graves is out February 9th via Unique Leader Records.