Left for Dead
Devoid of Everything
Anyone familiar with Left for Dead knows that it’s nearly a
foregone conclusion that a review written about them by a hardcore fan is going
to be glowingly positive. So let’s just get this out of the way: I love Left
for Dead. And yes, I giggled like a
school girl when I found out they were releasing this discography and recording
new material. Also, anyone familiar with Hamilton, Ontario will not be
surprised to find out that there was a time in the late-90s/early 00s that this
city consistently produced the most angry, fast, metallic hardcore Canada had
to offer. The epitome of this
working-class-teen aggression came from Left for Dead, led by Chris Colohan
(Swarm/Cursed/Burning Love) and Jeff Beckman (Chokehold/Haymaker/Pick Your
Side).
My only issue with Left for Dead up to this point was their
piss-poor production. Now, as a fan of
both hardcore and black metal, I’m really not caught off-guard by bad
recordings and production, but I always knew that it was an injustice that such
a furious band had such flat, tinny sounding recordings. Fortunately, thanks to a complete remastering
from the original ¼” reels by Kevin Bernsten and James Plotkin, the days of
Left for Dead sounding like garbage are over!
I’ve never considered myself an audiophile in the sense that I don’t
obsess over sound quality (I either listen to music on my $100 record player or
on my phone at 128kpbs) but the change in quality between Devoid of Everything and Splitting
Heads (or any other release) is unbelievable. And to anyone who is about to get nostalgic
and talk about how they hate remasterings...you are wrong. Flat out.
Devoid of Everything is the
best that Left for Dead has ever sounded, on any format. It’s heavier, crunchier, warmer, cleaner, and
finally gives this band the sound they’ve always deserved.
In other words, you can now listen to songs like “Eight
Floors Above”, “Who Do You Know?” and “Left For Dead” and they will be even
more crushing and aggressive-sounding then they previously were...and these are
some of the most destructive, scream-your-guts-out confrontational songs I had
ever heard....and now they are remastered and even more obscenely heavy.
