Metalcore is not a new idea and the explosion of bands playing this “new” type of metal or hardcore (however you want to see it… chicken or egg!) had me saturated and unwilling to hear another band that labeled themselves as metalcore; that until I got a hold of this promo. My first honest impression was to relate them more to the Swedish death metal sound than to any hardcore band that I have ever heard (I haven’t really heard a lot of hardcore bands but I think I get what they sound like!); having said that, as the record progresses you begin to hear and understand how influenced are this guys by hardcore punk, but just how much metal and “heaviness” is within every single one of their songs.

This is not really an album or demo, it appears to be just a compilation of songs put together in order to let the media know of their existence, and boy do I notice! This promo album is quickly scaling in my playlist as songs like Hope Dies last and Through the hourglass just keep getting better and better the more I listen to them.

I never thought I could enjoy metalcore breakdowns until Drain-Life placed some pretty catchy riffs and remarkably heavy drums after those segments are included in their songs; and is their accurate way of blending their influences that make this promo so remarkable. They even mention that thrash has a huge impact in their music, and you can hear that in the way they give importance and substance to their riffs, making the songs accessible to the listener without compromising that raw atmosphere created by the hardcore vocals.

If all metalcore will only sound like this guys, I would be buying them by the dozen, sadly that’s not what experience shows us; so living in a world full of followers and wannabes is good to bump into some pretty original and well done music.