Philadelphia, PA rock powerhouse A LIFE ONCE LOST has completed work on its new album, entitled "Iron Gag".
Set for a September 18, 2007 release, "Iron Gag" was self-produced by the band and mastered at West West Side Music by the venerable Alan Douches. The follow-up to 2005's "Hunter" "delivers a massive wallop of scorched-out, supercharged hard rock," according to a press release. "Supremely well-paced, the release exhibits the sound of a band injecting a brazen swagger into its wide musical palette. The music dovetails its blend of raw-power metal and fuzz-tripping rock, combining each in various permutations: the rock coming to the forefront in the songs 'Firewater Joyride' and the crunching 'Detest'; the more deliberate side of the band emerging in the bruising 'Worship' and the snide, slow-boil of 'The Wanderer'. Like a shark, this band can only go forwards and the deeper reaches of 'Iron Gag' are very clearly the sound of A LIFE ONCE LOST finding new waters in which to hunt."
A sneak peek at what "Iron Gag" holds in store for its listener is now available as the new track "Firewater Joyride" has been posted online at this location.
"Today we bestow upon you the future classic known only as 'Firewater Joyride'," comments ALOL guitarist Doug "Snake Sustain" Sabolick. "Since we are known mostly for the ultra-heavy, we figure we'd throw out a curve ball and release a f*ckin' rocker. It's time for the real motherf**kers to take the reins."
"There's a lot of things I wanted to say to a lot of people on this record," ALOL frontman Bob Meadows explains. "Even within a song, there could be two or three people I'm talking about. It was inspired by a lot of things I've wanted to say but haven't because I had to watch myself. There are so many ugly things going on in the music scene and life, and I was just like, 'F— it, if I say something that's going to piss someone off, then it wasn't meant to be anyway. Let me just get this all off my chest.' So, this album's just really pissed, and it's very vicious."
"The songs are just way more fierce," he continues. "There's an element about it that 'Hunter' didn't have, and I think maybe that was because of us doing it ourselves. It was us learning from ['Hunter' producer and ANTHRAX guitarist] Rob Caggiano how to actually approach the songs and my working with [LAMB OF GOD's] Randy Blythe on the vocal production, which taught me how to approach the songs well. And with all of that working together, we've definitely put out a record that's going to move a lot of heads — make people turn around and be like, 'Holy sh–.' It's a monster of a release."
"Iron Gag" track listing:
01. Firewater Joyride
02. Detest
03. The Wanderer
04. Worship
05. All Teeth
06. Meth Mouth
07. Masks
08. Pigeonholed
09. Others Die
10. Silence
11. Ill Will
A LIFE ONCE LOST will hit the road this August in support of "Iron Gag", opening for the fast-rising metal unit JOB FOR A COWBOY, with further touring plans to be announced soon.
