Synic's Spotlight: The Life I Remember - Once Human

Buckle up ladies and gentlemen, because tonight the spotlight shines on. Tonight is not another punk band like you may be expecting, though. Tonight I wanted to come up with something a little different to fill your earholes. So tonight I give you something harder, and a little more abrasive. Tonight I give you, Once Human.

Once Human came onto my radar not long ago, during my internet research of female-fronted metal bands to give my musical palette some femininity. I found exactly that in a couple groups, but not this one. Once Human is unlike anything I've listened to before, but let me say they are a warm welcome in my library. Their 2015 debut record The Life I Remember has been a regular shuffle in my daily listens for a couple months now, and it's showing no signs of slowing down.

When I first started getting into metal, I was never into the screamers. To me, that's all it was. Aurally abrasive and altogether displeasing. It was just screaming to me. I couldn't understand what the vocalist was saying, nor did I care. It came to be known to me by the sub-genre moniker that my sister came up with herself: Cookie Monster Rock. Its like your standard hard rock/metal, with an angry Cookie Monster holding the microphone. That said, something changed within me the moment I discovered Once Human.

The insane musical talent of the guys in this band just blew me away. The vocalist can hold a note with the best of them, especially on tracks like "I Am War" and "The Life I Remember," but sometimes you just have to scream it out. And that is also something she excels at, on near every track on the record. Minus the musical interludes, of course. (It also doesn't hurt that she is incredibly hot, but I'm not Revolver Magazine, so I won't rate my bands by the hotness of the lead singer.) What I will, say, however, is that while my progress of learning the lyrics to their songs is greatly impeded by the fact that she is indeed screaming, it is not impeding my enjoyment of their material in the slightest. There's something charming and deeply thrilling about being able to shut the world off and just bang your fuckin head for a while, and Once Human lets me do exactly that.

The Life I Remember - Once Human

9 - 4 - 2015

1. Trail of Tears

2. Ground Zero

3. You C**t

4. Pick Your Poison

5. Terminal

6. Demoneyes

7. Devil Can Have You

8. Time of the Disease

9. I Am War

10. The Life I Remember

11. Siren

12. Growing Colder

Favorite Track: You C**t

Least Favorite Track: I Am War