{"id":88594,"date":"2021-02-19T00:00:35","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T00:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=88594"},"modified":"2021-03-08T16:34:22","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T16:34:22","slug":"ep-review-august-life-the-broken-hourglass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/ep-review-august-life-the-broken-hourglass\/","title":{"rendered":"AUGUST LIFE – The Broken Hourglass EP (2021) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUGUST LIFE
The Broken Hourglass EP<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNo Dust (2021)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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In spite of being metal veterans individually, Netherlands combo August Life \u2013 featuring current and former members of Highway Chile, Praying Mantis, Picture, and Vengeance \u2013 has only been in existence since 2017, and released their debut full-length album New Eternity<\/em> in August 2018.<\/p>\n

The quintet dabbles in polished, melodic, thinking man\u2019s metal with flecks of Dio mysticism and faint streaks of power metal, and this new six-track EP acts a preview of the band\u2019s new material by way of the new composition \u2018The Broken Hourglass\u2019, which is accompanied by four live tracks \u2013 \u2018Coming Home\u2019, \u2018Dead End\u2019, \u2018Turn Back Time\u2019 and \u2018New Eternity\u2019 \u2013 as well as an alternate studio version of the song \u2018Nevermore\u2019.<\/p>\n

Everything about this affair feels Gothic, with opener \u2018The Broken Hourglass\u2019 revealing itself in numerous stages. The initial fast-paced Accept-driven metal drops to darker, brooding and slower passages. In both extremes vocalist Bryan Ketelaars is an unstoppable force \u2013 his vocals soar above the doomier chugs \u2013 and when the band becomes a frantic machine there\u2019s still that impressive, Gothic control.<\/p>\n

I really like the atmospheric moments on the opus, especially the slow build ups and the well-crafted passages where Hans in \u2019t Zant\u2019s drums connect effortlessly with Ronald Pieterse\u2019s bass. \u2018Coming Home\u2019 is a fine example of such a tandem; this one really clanks hard and has strong Dio elements from the vocals to that mystical powerhouse of a coating. In its live setting, \u2018Coming Home\u2019 is probably the heaviest track on offer, where Ketelaars\u2019s vocals are delivered at a more grizzled rumble and the music trudges in doomier fashion, all building to a great chorus.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the fizzing energy of \u2018New Eternity\u2019 features some sizzling guitar work and remains the EP\u2019s paciest turn out, but again there\u2019s that killer mid-tempo darkness.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s the dizzying stomp of \u2018Turn Back Time\u2019 and clunking chug of \u2018Dead End\u2019 which really catapult the EP to new heights. The latter is a sturdy, hefty heavyweight of what I\u2019d call mid-to-late 90s groove metal whereby the vocals take on a growl and the music in general toils with menace, while \u2018Turn Back Time\u2019 is equally bony but features extra dashes of melody. <\/p>\n

Closer \u2018Nevermore (Alternate Version)\u2019 seems a tad out of place, with its dark, brooding piano and string-laden expression of haunting and wistful subtlety, but it does act as a nice way to round off the EP.<\/p>\n

What is clear throughout this release is that August Life are a very flexible posse that operates within a steely framework of tried and tested metal formulas. The grit at times surprises me, suggesting they\u2019ve still yet to find their groove, but one thing that is guaranteed with an EP of this design is that you\u2019ll get classy, metallic metal that is both wondrously heavy and yet hidden within its folds are numerous other styles to keep you guessing.<\/p>\n

The next full-length release should really see August Life\u2019s sound flourish, but until then, enjoy the savage yet subtle nuances of this very metal expression.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AUGUST LIFEThe Broken Hourglass EP No Dust (2021)Rating: 8\/10 In spite of being metal veterans individually, Netherlands combo August Life \u2013 featuring current and former members of Highway Chile, Praying Mantis, Picture, and Vengeance \u2013 has only been in existence since 2017, and released their debut full-length album New Eternity in August 2018. The quintet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-august-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88594"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88596,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88594\/revisions\/88596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}