Driven Far Off

After releasing two albums on Indianola then being dropped from the imprint, Connecticut natives Life In Your Way have teamed up with hardcore Christian staple Solid State for their third outing Waking Giants. If you fancy yourself a fan of melodic hardcore, Waking Giants may be a worthwhile, albeit unmemorable, addition to your record collection. Crafting songs that roar and reign but still remain highly tuneful, LIYW deliver your cornerstone sing/scream breakdowns amidst some admittedly catchy guitar parts.

Produced by veteran “farm man” GGGarth Richardson, Waking Giants delivers on most fronts, never compromising it’s hardcore elements to reach a greater appeal. Tracks like “We Don’t Believe” and “Making Waves” showcase LIYW at the peak of their genre, mixing enchanting chord progression with heavy breakdowns and solid scream/sing choices. Even songs that start off less than brutal eventually find their callousness amongst the melody (Reach The End, Salty Grave). The redone “Threads Of Sincerity” (which appeared on the band’s previous album) sounds more intense than ever, flaunting a self-assured conviction that wasn’t apparent in LIYW’s past efforts. In fact, the greatest thing LIYW has to offer in this album is their ability to punctuate their song structures. In “Worthwhile” beautifully executed vocals are complemented by Joshua’s growls before tearing away into slow-moving savagery.

In my book, there’s a fine line between raw and polished that can make or break a band. All raw and no polish makes for an earache of a listen; over-polished and under-heated lacks the heart that’s central in hardcore. Life In Your Way did a good job tight walking the line, and consequently wrote songs that shirk predictability and rigor. However, I feel the album tries to do too much in the way of proving itself to both the hardcore and melodic hardcore communities. There are lot of great ideas and riffing inherent in this album, but few of them are ever taken to completion. What’s left is something that feels like the first draft of an epic poem–tons of great stanzas, but no ultimate build up and resolution. And although LIYW make it evident that’s what they’re trying to do, the pieces just don’t seem to fit the way they should.

Furthermore, as with many releases in this genre, there’s nothing truly original that Life In Your Way bring to the table. Labelmates As Cities Burn did a similar release two years ago, and while Waking Giants comes across slightly better than Son I Loved You At Your Darkest, it doesn’t stir the tide enough to ever break a wave. This pattern, in general, has plagued Solid State’s name over the past two years. They’ve been signing bands that, for all intents and purposes, have been pretty generic.

With that in mind, if you’ve been a longstanding fan of Life In Your Way, you’ll want to pick up Waking Giants to hear the progression the band have made since leaving Indianola (because it is considerable). However, if you’re a just a passing fan of the genre, move along until something better awakes the giant.

Track Listing:
1. Reach the End
2. Worthwhile
3. We Don’t Believe
4. Making Waves
5. The Shame
6. Salty Grave
7. Help! The Arm of the Mighty
8. Threads of Sincerity
9. The Beauty of Grace
10. Judas
11. Beneath It All:

Standout Tracks:
Reach The End, We Don’t Believe, Making Waves, Threads of Sincerity