The initial striking aspect about the new record No Name Graves from Unique Leader’s deathcore powerhouse The Last Ten Seconds Of Life are the clearest growls I’ve ever heard. I was so excited by being able to understand vocalist Tyler Beam while he maintains a chilling tone with unwavering control. His vocals are incredibly well-developed and its clear he was built to do this type of singing.
The entire album is delightfully choppy, but the guitars get a little boring through “Lentania Infernalis”, and the symbol solos wear out quickly by the end of this song. If you hold on, though, you are rewarded with growls that teeter on the brink of pig squeals, with bits of high pitches teasing through but never come to full fruition – a really interesting type of vocal style.
Although the vocals are top tier, I think another guitar line or pumping up the backing vocals a little louder would really make the record really come together. If the intention was to focus on vocals, this record succeeded. And hey, there’s something to be said about a record that doesn’t need fancy production to hit a home run. Third song in and we start to hear some insane double bass hits, and I’m surprised it took until the third song to really showcase it.
The Last Ten Seconds Of Life clearly pulls inspiration from at least some sort of hardcore/beatdown with the amount of slow, single instrument breakdowns that leave plenty of space to clear a pit and throw hands. The title track wasn’t there to show its ass, or raise any new epiphanies about the record, continuing with steady structures heard in the first few songs. The fourth track “Body of a Bastard”, though, snapped me back into it.
A killer tetrametric bridge yanked me by the neck and gave me the chills only delivered by a fucked up nursery rhyme – “Fee fi fo fum/I smell the blood of a weak man/fake scum”. Easily the best track on the record, I wish that line occurred more than once but the lyrics across the record still boast impressive prose. Beam does such a good job delivering this line, likely due to the fact that his strong voice perfectly matches the vision of a terrifying sky-dwelling giant that feeds on the bones of men who dare cross him.
“Feel My Fangs In You” is somehow both scary and a little seductive with drawn-out growls that leaves listeners feeling secondhand winded. I mean, “Now that I got my fangs in you/Forever mine”? Sounds romantic enough to put on a valentine. “Saint No More” features another up-and-coming deathcore vocalist Ben Mason of Bound in Fear, where you can hear a well done screaming harmony.
“Doomsday Death Trap” showcases the isolated double bass again and “Broken Glass Incantation” lyrics actually bring me back to staring at Meatloaf‘s “Bat Out Of Hell” for the first time. No, I’m not comparing this deathcore band to Meatloaf, but the line “Twisted metal/Broken glass/And the holes of hell” just brought me straight back to that pleasing place of both intrigue and discomfort. It’s evident that The Last Ten Seconds Of Life are venturing into new territory with No Name Graves, which still incorporates classic riffs and beats but emphasizes clean vocal-focused production.
Caitlin McMahon
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