Life’s Blood are a crucial, yet overlooked chapter in US Hardcore!
Hearing ‘Reckoning Force’ on the excellent Where The Wild Things Are New York Hardcore compilation was an absolute revelation. The Defiance 7” would be a top 10 if I were to ever write such a list.
As much as they contain characteristics of the era's NYHC sound (a Cro-mags or Breakdown fan could enjoy), they definitely feel like outsiders within that world.
Even when something resembling gang vocals appears it’s not a ‘call to arms’ as much as some worldweiry societal cynicism.
Saying that Life’s Blood aren’t a “weird hardcore” band. It’s raging, straight ahead stuff with an uncanny knack for anthemic songcraft.
This LP compilation contains all their crucial material, fleshed out with a bit of not-so-crucial material. The usual story with essential-HC-bands-that-never-made-an-LP, i.e. The Fix.
- Nic