This three-way split features the New Jersey trio Fight Amp, Philadelphia’s Ladder Devils (former members of The Minor Times), and San Francisco’s sludgy Kowloon Walled City. While the three bands play three different styles of aggressive music, the sound of the split as a whole is entirely cohesive. Lose Lose Lose collectively is a great album from the three bands. Listening to one of the group’s 2 song contributions to the split is also a great way to experience what this album has to offer. Still though, all three bands are able to sound great on their own.
Kowloon Walled City start the three-way split with “The Busker” and end the split with “The Commuter.” This is their first released material since 2009’s Gambling on the Richter Scale, which unfortunately was an overlooked album in 2009. On Lose Lose Lose, KWC play a melodic brand of heavy sludge metal. This could also be heard as a heavier and faster version of post-metal bands such as Isis. Those who are bored easily or don’t have the attention-span for doom metal or post-metal, may be able to withstand KWC. Those who enjoy both genres would be able to more than just withstand these tracks, they’d love them. Very heavy and sludgy while never sticking with a riff for too long. KWC move at a much faster pace than their counterparts as far as drumming and the amount of riffage in their songs. The only complaint with this band could be that they vocals don’t quite match the intensity and heaviness of the instrumentals. The vocals would go perfectly with the other two bands on the split, but for the band that represents sludge metal on the album, they just don’t seem to cut it. They are definitely some dudes to still keep an eye on however.
Ladder Devils features ex-members from The Minor Times, who tragically broke up in 2007. The Ladder Devils two tracks “Get Ok” and “Leavers” bring a little softer side to the split, especially after following Kowloon Walled City. Ladder Devils sound like a post-hardcore version of The Minor Times, only a little bit less technical, and sadly, a little bit less as good. These are the first two recorded songs from the band and while they sound very promising, they aren’t something to get too excited about yet. Fans of These Arms Are Snakes may want to be the ones who keep an eye on this band. Their use of great guitar tones and experience in song writing still make them an interesting listen, similar to These Arms Are Snakes, but they haven’t quite hit their sound on the head yet.
Fight Amp make the split’s best two tracks, “Thankless” and “Old Soul.” This New Jersey band has the longest experience together of the other two bands, nearly 6 years, countless tours, and plenty of releases. This could be a possible reason why the band created the best songs for the split. “Thankless” breaks in during the middle of the split with a heavy noise rock riff similar to that of Unsane. This band actually sounds like a more modern and heavier version of Unsane, vocals and all. For a more modern comparison, think Young Widows without the Jesus Lizard influence. Fight Amp are quite straight-forward and not too experimental. They do definitely have their own style since there isn’t a lot of heavy noise rock out there. This could even be considered sludge/noise rock, but it really should just be considered awesome, because that’s exactly what it is…Awesome!
See also
Fight Amp site: http://www.myspace.com/fightamp Kowloon Walled City site: http://www.myspace.com/kowloonwalledcity Ladder Devils site: http://www.myspace.com/ladderdevils
