Have a Nice Life - “Voids” Review
Have a Nice Life. Voids . 2009. 4 stars.
Voids is a fan made compilation of demos and b-sides from last year’s stellar Deathconsciousness . This collection is split in two, with The Powers of 10 consisting of demos/remixes of older songs and What Came Next Was Worse featuring 5 unreleased songs. While the demos are a nice addition, they don’t compare to the raw, gritty energy of the "new" tracks, which is compelling.
"Human Error" is a catchy instrumental track featuring jangly shoegazing guitar riffs and stark percussion. "Trespassers W" is a punchy post-punk song driven by fluid bass lines and simple kinetic riffing, reminiscent of Joy Division’s minimalist dynamics. The urgent pacing of this track expands on the tense and claustrophobic feelings of Deathconsciousness with clearer direction and furor.
" Defenstration Song" follows along the same line, with dirty, distorted guitars and haunting vocals murmuring and wailing under the densely layered mix. The pounding percussion has become more sophisticated, and the crunch of guitars is also more ominous. With these two songs, Have a Nice Life seem to be following the punkish trajectory set out by "Waiting for Black Metal Records to Come in the Mail" and "The Future", showing a rougher and more immediate side of their complex sound.
"Sisyphus" is a cold, slow-boiling song that broods over droning guitar noise before leading in ethereal vocal harmonies that overlap and become ghostly ambiance (a la "Bloodhail"). It’s a long and patient song that shows off the band’s intricate use of layering to bring out deep and troubling emotions.
"Destinos", the final song, is the most distrubing, as it intersperses samples of a fundementalist sermon about Hell and Sin between forebodding acoustic strumming and drawn out synths. The echoing vocals build powerfully and capture feelings of resignation and defeat before crackling noise starts to rupture. Gloomy piano lines then hammer sparesly over the groaning distortion. The effect of these transitions is unsettling, evoking the vexing, demonic spirit that lurks within their work.
Overall, Voids is an intense and revealing collection that expands on HANL’s depressive atmosphere and shows hints at powerful things to come. While it is obviously not nearly as polished or detailed as Deathconsciousness , these offerings still cut like a knife. You can download it here .
September 20th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Hey, I figure I might as well cut to the chase: I don’t know if you ever seek out what casual readers of your blog recommend, but I was wondering if you might be interested in reviewing Planning For Burial - “Leaving” on your site. The artist behind the moniker is admittedly a friend of mine, but as far as I know, the Enemies List/Have A Nice Life guys are or at least were really digging the album. Just thought this post would be a good branching-point in that respect, but I’m very sorry if this comes off as a shameless plug.
Planning For Burial - Leaving can be downloaded for free at:
http://www.gimmesound.com/PlanningForBurial/