******
- Verified Buyer
Little Rock, Ark. metalcore band Living Sacrifice spent the better part of the 90s leading the underground movement known as Christian extreme metal.Before breaking up in 2005, Living Sacrifice played music with all the hallmarks of extreme music, down-tuned guitar snarls of distortion mic'd for maximum destruction, guttural and aggressive vocal barks from vocalist Bruce Fitzhugh and chunky odd-time rhythms that pummeled the listener without hesitation. And they wrote songs about their deep devotion to Christianity and God. This contradiction of sound and fury versus the sacred verses limited the band's audience. After breaking up, their fanbase wept, but few others took notice.Their 2010 comeback album The Infinite Order is so shockingly intense, it's a revelation worthy of people finally taking notice. "Overkill Exposure" kicks things off at a breakneck pace, recalling the opening of the band's 1997 stomper, Reborn. The song's lyrics address the sensationalism of media and its interference with a moral life. "Rules of Engagement" and "Nietzche's Madness" continue the trend, with the latter song also provides a scathing critique of atheism, a change of pace from the one-dimensional worship lyrics of the band's first few albums. This album explores the complex spectrum of human emotions that can accompany a person of Christian faith, expressing anger and rebuttal through violent sound."Organized Lie" turns the criticism back onto religion itself, deploring the blind-minded approach of organized religion and the loss of individual faith as a result. Riffs are a fusion of the band's early death metal grinding with rhythmic hardcore riffs from the turn of the century. Listening to The Infinite Order is like hearing a retrospective of the band's entire twenty-year career, including the bits of beautiful guitar-work hinted at on their 2005 greatest hits album, In Memoriam. Not many bands are blessed enough to take an eight-year hiatus and return more hungry and intelligent than when they left. Somehow, Living Sacrifice may have done the necessary praying for a Messianic comeback of this magnitude.
