life and new breath
by Heath Fenton
The band Life Against Death (LAD) is much like a volcano. Sudden explosions and rapid destruction can move foundations to new landscapes with greater views and wider horizons. Through their ten years of existence, LAD has gone through sixteen different members. The latest implosion occurred when long-time members and partners Brett Roothless and Mya Mayhem went their separate ways, leaving the band in a barren wasteland. But Roothless had other ideas. To him it`s always been about the music. “I’ve always looked at music as an addiction. I have no choice but to do it. I figured if I am going to keep playing music then why should I start another fucking band.” So he dusted himself off and began the process of assembling today’s version of LAD.
The first piece was an old friend and ex-band mate Scott Free, who would be enlisted to play drums. Free had toiled with Roothless in an old band called The First Day and he actually was the original singer in an early version of LAD. Next part would be bass stalwart Steven Huston from another old band of Roothless’ called Last Plague. The only task left was the process of recruiting the elusive lead vocalist.
Enter Twitch from Joyce Collingwood. She had never done the vocal style that would be required to step into an extreme thrash metal band like LAD. But she was more than game and she even went out of her way to approach them herself about the vacant position. “After I heard something had happened I went down to the bar and ran into the bass player at the time and got the scoop from him,” she says and adds, “He told me that Brett was keen on just continuing on and finding another singer. So after a couple of beers deep, I said, 'I’ll sing for you guys!'”
Two years later with a hefty gig list and some new songs under their belt, the next step was to hit the Hive Creative Lab studio and record with engineer Jesse Gander. The result is nine songs and and a 22-minute juggernaut that will be released August 31. The album runs the gamut of what LAD was built on: extreme metal, old school thrash ideologies and wild aggression. “This is not about reinvention, it’s a continuation,” Roothless explains. “Every line-up of this band has sounded a bit different but it will always sound like Life Against Death.”
Join Life Against Death August 31 at Thrashers a.k.a. Funkys for their record release show!
