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Witness is far from the typical hardcore record.
Modern Life Is War is one of the most prolific bands in the current generation of hardcore. While the band harnesses energy and intensity as well as any other, their songs don't fall back on tired beats, familiar chord progressions, excessive gang vocals or trite and easy-to-sing lyrics. Witness, the group's second full-length and first for Deathwish Inc., sees Modern Life Is War ignoring any hesitation and writing their most powerful, moving hardcore yet.
Despite spanning 27 short minutes, Witness plays like a full-fledged epic. Rather than structure songs around simple sing-alongs, crunchy breakdowns or blazing speeds, Modern Life Is War favors plodding buildups, heightening tension and gratifyingly climactic peaks. The jagged drumming patterns often remain in the medium-tempo range, while lightly distorted guitar picking and strumming tend to blossom into swelling riffs. There's a rhythmic feel, which is certainly distinct amongst hardcore, to the music. It isn't until the fifth song, the strangely infectious and achingly memorable "D.E.A.D.R.A.M.O.N.E.S.," that the band uses a traditional, straightforward song structure.
Whether Modern Life Is War is taking an angular path or pursuing a quicker, focused impact, their ability to create attention-holding, urgent music is consistently in place. For this much credit is due to vocalist Jeffrey Eaton, whose hoarse screams and shouts bleed life, enthusiasm, despair and sincerity. It's painfully evident that Eaton has lived and felt the subjects of his lyrics, and the emotionally draining delivery only adds to their introspection.
Witness' lyrical content centers on the hardships of small-town life, which is an environment I personally connect with, and there's an endearingly positive vibe that emanates from certain songs. The end of the final song, "Hair Raising Accounts Of Restless Ghosts (AKA Hell Is For Heroes Part II)," is chilling, especially when Eaton sings, "Everyone knows we're living in a world we just can't trust. Left in the wind to die in the dust, so we spoke up. Crazy, ugly, illegitimate. Never again. We are the symptom. We are the thorn in the side." "Marshalltown" is an appropriately titled song about the band's hometown, and Eaton carefully chooses his words to paint the rather bleak atmosphere of a drive through the town ("I take an out-of-the-way drive in and around the north side of town, where the smoke from hell's exhaust pipe lingers above the cheap rent in the dark night").
The blue, gray, white and black artwork is gritty and foreboding, and truly matches the atmosphere of the music. Similarly, Kurt Ballou's production job is fittingly dark and surely helped Modern Life Is War achieve the kind of aesthetic that superbly aligns with the music. Witness is a hardcore record, but at the same time is entirely detached from the norms of the genre. With so much passion poured into it and the band's distinct musical approach, it will undeniably be remembered, and listened to, for years and years to come. Excellent.
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