When Life Has Ceased - My Scar
by James

Expect more from your metal band. That is the motto of the modern metal community, I think. There was a time when you could say “They sound like Metallica” and no one would think negatively of that. “Really? Sweet! I love Metallica!” Now, it is more likely to get a response of “Geez, why can’t they be more original?” Don’t get me started on how original most bands aren’t, though. It’s a word that gets thrown around too often and almost never applies to the bands that claim it. Everything has been done before and until someone events a new instrument, that is not likely to change. Despite that, metalheads the world over scorn no band more than one they deem to be “unoriginal”. However, the quest to be “completely original” can lend itself to creating something distinctive. That is what When Life Has Ceased have done with their first CD, My Scar. I don’t honestly believe anyone will listen to this album and say, “man, I’ve never heard anything like this in my life”. I can say that I’ve heard few metal acts that can put together the range of styles WLHC have culled from and make them all blend as naturally as they do. The songs jump around from death to thrash to black to you name it and it all sounds brilliant. They are not a band that is just doing everything they can to be retardedly heavy for the sake of being heavy. WLHC focuses on writing intelligently arranged and expertly crafted metal. They give the listener the distinct thrill of never knowing where they will go in the next bar, but you still feel confident that whatever it is will be awesome to hear. Just as an example, To The Damned starts out like a traditional death metal song. Low, growling vocals over a hammering riff and lightning fast drums. Just as you get all set for a nice little trip down Corpse Raper Lane, though, they hang a left down Corpse Paint Avenue and take you into black metal hell (I don’t figure black metal folks have much interest in heaven). Not long after that, quality thrash moments can be heard and reveled in. It’s absolute insanity and yet, it all seems to make sense. You’ve heard riffs like this before, but never put together the way this band does. The only part of the metal spectrum that is missing is clean vocals, but everybody and their dog is trying to force clean vocals into their extreme metal, right now, so that exclusion is probably a good thing. The range of the abrasive vocals on this album more than makes up for the lack of any “pretty, happy singing”. From the very low to the very high, you will often find yourself wondering just how many singers this band has. Yes sir, much like Wal Mart, there is a little something here for everyone.