A Life Once Lost - Open Your Mouth For The Speechless
2004 Robotic Empire

Track Listing:
1. Joan Said Please
2. This Is What She Calls Home
3. The Introduction
4. Almost Perfect But I Failed
5. Gentle and Elegant
6. A Falls River Farewell
7. Everything Becomes Still
8. Just Before His Crucifixion
9. Why Do You Make Me Bleed
10. Prepare Yourself For What Is About To Come (demo)
11. The Tide (demo)
12. The Dead Sea (live)

Line-Up:
Vocals:  Robert Meadows
Guitars:  Douglas Sabolick, Vadim Taver
Bass:  Richard Arnold
Drums:  TJ DeBlois

Website:  www.alifeoncelost.com

Lamp's Rating:  B
Overall Album Rating:  B

Lamp's Review:
This is A Life Once Lost's debut album, remastered and re-released for a new generation of people to listen to with a few bonus tracks.  First off, I'll say this much:  This is one of the most emo things I listen to.  I'm not ashamed to admit that.  We all need something a little touching every once in a while between all the hard hits, and while this music is quite heavy for the most part, there are tasteful, quiet guitar bits and even an entire song made to give the ears a break with touching melodies and even some soft flowing keyboard in the background (Everything Becomes Still).

If I had read the above passage not having heard this band before, I'd wonder if there were singing vocals on this album, but there aren't.  The vocals are pretty growly on the first nine tracks (less so on the demo songs, Robert's voice has improved).  It's not particularly fast music either, except for maybe the beginning of Joan Said Please and some other parts scattered throughout the album.  A lot of what you'll hear that comes to mind is either fast rock beats or slow chugging parts.  You mix these in with the clean fills and sparse fast parts and you've got some metalcore that offers a fair amount of diversity between tracks.  My final word is, if you like music that's hard hitting, but at the same time you don't mind something a little emo and heart-gripping, give this a listen.
Lamp's Rating:  B

Discography (last updated 9.25.05):
A Great Artist - 2003
The Fourth Plague:  Flies EP - 2003
Open Your Mouth For The Speechless...In Case Of Those Appointed To Die - 2004
Hunter - 2005