Starve - Life's Promise Dies (Album Review)
Starve – Life's Promise Dies
Released: July 26, 2024
Line up
Jordan Dunbar // Vocals
Alessio Valentini-Marano // Guitar, Vocals
Ewan Gordan // Bass
Darcy Carroll // Drums
Online
Australian hardcore is getting some steam at the minute, just look at Sydney's SPEED who dropped debut record ONLY ONE MODE a couple of weeks ago. Don't get nude too quickly on Bondi Beach though - Melbourne's vicious hardcore Starve titans have been brewing up a potion that'll knock you straight off your feet.
Having sewn the seeds of their eclectic response to modern hardcore, Victoria's Starve have been inspiring two-steps across venues for a good half decade or more now. With 2019 debut EP Mantis, the unforgiving Nails-inspired outfit had a handful of jams to sucker punch any living organism within a 5km radius (yes, that's an intentional COVID-Melbourne reference).
They shortly after rose to breakdown stardom with single 'Shiver' and sophomore EP Nausea which truly put these guys on the map. After 2022 double single Six Feet Into The Poppy Field, the band had the heavy community in a trance with 'Parables'. This growing momentum in the local scene saw Starve pick up many fans along the way, with punters turning up to shows to let loose on some aggressive tunes. Having supported bands like Kublai Khan TX, Stick To Your Guns, Dying Wish, To The Grave, Make Them Suffer, Thy Art Is Murder, and so many more - the band's reputation speaks for itself.
It's been a long time coming but the Melbourne locals are making it big with their debut album finally hitting shelves. Life's Promise Dies is an eleven-track release that nods to uber-short track lengths from their influencing hardcore artists and even Napalm Death. It's the most menacing twenty minutes or so of heavy music you'll have heard in a long while - that's for sure.
Let's get into it. Eerie intro '(Null)' bleeds into 'Nightmare at my Door' where the drums sucker-punch you straight in the nose as vocalist Jordan Dunbar's grotesque vocals bleed across a melodic chaos of textures. With the best production across all releases, this hardcore-come-nu-metalcore number will lift you off your feet with a breakdown that prepares you for the mood of Life's Promise Dies.
'Deadly Weapons' is a groovy tune with No Cure's Blaythe Steuer hailing from Birmingham. The two and a half minute track doubles down on bass with a KoRn-esque intro-riff that welcomes Dunbar's guttural outcry before the drums make a welcoming return. Dunbar manages to oscillate between disgusting growls and a melodic carriage that transports you through the different stages of the tune. Steuer comes in and adds an extra dimension to the carnage that works effortlessly. The breakdown is notably fierce and will translate into a live show with a violence warning.
Already flying through this masterpiece record, 'starve2death' is the third and final single from the band before this LP release, and it was chosen well to leave you hanging. With a nod to their own band name, Starve just go plain old angry on this one, like angrier than Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino (and man, that's angry). With snarling vocals across a splinter of riffs that'll raise the hair on your neck, the drum and bass combination is enough to detonate a dormant landmine. If you're an old school-metal fan you'll pick up on a riff style from 90s/00s that I like to describe as straight-up metal - and when you hear it, you'll know.
After starving from nausea, hopefully what comes next is 'Getting Well', so let's bite into this double beef burger - and let me tell you it's packed with extra cheese. The two-minute song steadies through a moody intro where Dunbar tests his vocal cords before the band settle into an anxious comfort with mixing that showcase the band's talents whilst masking that with a roughness that'll risk you catching tetanus. I can't stress enough how well practiced Dunbar's vocals are as he effortlessly holds a single guttural note for what feels like an eternity - it's truly impressive.
Starve (two)step into that nu-metalcore alter-ego for a moment on 'Nothing More' as they "shiver again" through some chaotic and sludgy hardcore orchestration. With a ferocious melody hidden in the organised mess, the band deliver a cathartic and visceral experience with the heaviest combination of elements they have in their back pocket. Their second and last feature of the record sees the one and only Bobak Rafiee of Justice For The Damned help articulate a 'World of Shit'. Doubling down on that anxious energy again, Starve bring Rafiee in at the front of a face-melting breakdown that grabs a hold on you like a sickly stench. The ballistic nature of the riffage and pounding drums is startling and will drown you in its power.
The back-end of this LP delivers a thirty-second cruncher called 'Sick' which is the first track Starve released in a good few years - leaving fans salivating for more. The perfection of this lead-single is not lost on me its obvious hyperbole in duration, and parallel nod to bands like Converge. It's delicious, brutally perfect and chaotically sudden - you'll love it.
'Patchwork' gives you one of the last chances to immerse yourself in the Victorian's sprint of melodic hardcore with some of the best production we've heard yet on the record. Dunbar showcases the utmost vocal diversity on this one, with the rest of the band following suit as they alternate between hellish tones of discomfort and a melodic edge that draws you in. It's hard not to fall for these original riffs and unified instrumentation throughout. This is a track where Starve dive deeper down the melodic hole with some artful corners of chaos layered throughout. This might be their most hardcore track on the record overall in the pure design as it follows a certain stylistic recipe, while maintaining their own original flair that define them.
After dancing in a '(Void)' (a short interlude), closing track 'Life’s Promise Died Long Ago' kicks in - and it's where all good things must come to an end; eventually. As the longest track on the album by a country mile, this four-minute track is a killer on the musical diversity front. With low tuning and even filthier gutturals from Dunbar, the band arrange a rollercoaster of bassy tones that are suffocating with ferocity. With a raspy vocal switch, the band build and hold an uncomfortable tension that feels everlasting. Eventually, Starve put you out of your misery with a crippling breakdown that gives you one last taste of their unworldly mayhem.
Starve's debut album Life's Promise Dies speaks to their artistry and maturity with a modern take on sludgy hardcore and disorganised metalcore by crafting a series of tracks that together outline their perfectly orchestrated bedlam by design. At just over 20mins in length, I guess I expected a bit more from a debut album in terms of length. Whilst I appreciate the sentiment around a 20min release, some fans may be misled about this branded as an LP. It would have been great to see a push to more than 30 mins, but otherwise, it's a flawless record.
Starve – Life's Promise Dies tracklisting
1. (Null)
2. Nightmare at my Door
3. Deadly Weapons (feat. Blaythe Steuer of No Cure)
4. starve2death
5. Getting Well
6. Nothing More
7. World of Shit (feat. Bobak Rafiee of Justice For The Damned)
8. Sick
9. Patchwork
10. (Void)
11. Life’s Promise Died Long Ago
Rating: 8/10
Life's Promise Dies is out now. Get it here.
Review by Ricky Aarons (@rickysaul90)
