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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Conceived In Fire Artist: Living Sacrifice Label: Solid State Length: 13 Tracks/45:07 min Eleven years after bursting onto the scene as spotty teenagers, Living Sacrifice are still rightly regarded as one of the leading purveyors of extreme heavy metal which has the twist of a Christian edge to the lyrics. Unfortunately they are still unknown to all but the cognoscenti in the wider, secular music place, which is a shame because over the course of their five albums they have shown that they can more than hold their own with the Slayers of this world. Conceived In Fire has a fighting chance of bringing some secular recognition courtesy of the fact that it was mixed and mastered by ubiquitous metal producer Andy Sneap (Machine Head, Napalm Death, Stuck Mojo, Skinlab). The result of this alliance is that Conceived In Fire is easily their BEST SOUNDING album to date, although I'll plead the Fifth on whether it is actually their BEST album. Conceived In Fire contains all the musical elements we have come to expect from Living Sacrifice: massive, chugging riffs; guttural, growled vocals (although you can definitely discern at least ten words a song these days!); extra tribal percussion to supplement the already heavy drumming artillery (a work begun on 2000's "The Hammering Process"); and, of course, a semi-acoustic interlude ("Into Again", which neatly divides the album into six-song halves). Does this make the songs somewhat predictable and lacking in imagination? Yes, sometimes, but in fairness, when the pieces of the jigsaw fit together properly, Living Sacrifice are peerless at what they do, as "Symbiotic" and the bruising, Soulfly-esque "Send Your Regrets" clearly show. Lyrics-wise, Conceived In Fire covers a broad spectrum of topics, including the suicide of a loved-one ("3x3 We Carried Your Body"); struggling with sin ("Subtle Alliance"); all-out worship ("Reach For The Sky") and political judgements ("Imminent War"). For the most part, these lyrics make thought-provoking reading. However, it is somewhat disappointing to hear what the band has to say on the Israel/Palestine issue in "Imminent War": Target Israel...I believe that it is right to condemn utterly heinous acts such as the recent spate of suicide bombings and, of course, the events of September 11. However, in my opinion, the views expressed above ignore the fact that Palestinians (including Christians as well as Muslims, incidentally) have legitimate grievances too, such as the "small" matter that since 1948 they have been forcibly ejected from land that they had every legal right to occupy. Oh well, whatever your take on the lyrics, rest assured that "Imminent War" is still a fine way to open the album from a musical perspective. In summary, the cliche applies that if you are already a Living Sacrifice fan then you'll love Conceived In Fire because it takes the template of old and polishes it up into something even more beautifully brutal. If you are into the likes of Slayer, Sepultura and Meshuggah but are yet to discover Living Sacrifice then you really should: they are more than a match musically and, in general, a whole lot more edifying to listen to. Vik Bansal 11/2/2002
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