Lay It On The Line is a British band from London, formed in 2012 by Phinius Gage, Mike Scott, his brother Matt and Dave Smith, who was originally guitarist in Not Katies.
They describe themselves a melodic hardcore band.
The band has released 4 Ep’s and the album, “A candle in Hell”, which we are going to take a closer look at tonight, is their second full length album.
Their first album, «The black museum» came out in 2017, and can also be found on Spotify, bandcamp and etcetera.
Now, “A candle in Hell”, came out September 28th this year. And consists of 11 tracks. I think the album is well put together and doesn’t waiver much in its genre. There is that great British sound over it and has an element of punk in it. Personally, I’m not a big fan of punk, but this album is not a punk album, I can tell you that much.
Neither will I characterise this as melodic metal, as it is stated elsewhere. Maybe somewhere a long ‘a new wave of British punk metal’? It’s always hard to put a label on an album. And even though this album doesn’t waver much for its form, or genre, it’s still somewhat difficult to pinpoint a genre, but maybe that’s the closest we get? Don’t arrest me if I’m wrong, because this is of course MY opinion and you are free to make up your own.
The tracks are short and concise. The longest track, track number 5 “The last on Out”, is at 3 minutes and 23 seconds. It is track number five on the album.
“When the sun shines we cannot see the stars, even though the sum total of their brilliance is countless millions of times greater than the sun. So, when a man is surrounded by the artificial lights of his own self importance, he cannot see the distant Light of Truth”
“A Candle In Hell” (1968) by Robert De Grimston
I think the most melodic song I can find on this album is the song called “Childhood Domestic Abuse Blues”, which I find quite good.
Now the album is called “A candle in Hell” and there are also two tracks with that name. “A candle in Hell, Part.1” and “A candle in Hell, Part.2”
As a melodic metal album, I would not rate it very high. So, I am not going to that. Instead I am going rate the album for what I think it is.
When it comes to production and sound there is nothing to say about it. The sound and production is great. I often exert myself and getting tired when I listen to music that badly produced. This one, production wise, is a delight to listen to.
As for the content, the music, I find this to be a well-executed album and it sticks to it form and genre, which a would label, like a said earlier, like a new wave of British punk-metal. I might be way of here, but to me that’s what is sounds like. And I like it.
So, to conclude, I find this to be a really good album and I would definitely recommend it.
