Lvmen - "Raison D'Etre"

"Honestly, Lvmen is probably my favorite European hardcore band ever," would be my reply if someone sat me down, gave me dirty looks and forced me to pick one. Here is the 2nd record from this underrated Czech band, which was released on Day After Records in 2000, or sometime thereabouts. Epic, monumental, swirling music that takes on a somewhat instrumental nature, but had plenty of samples and vocals to keep you occupied. I suppose it's fair to say the main focus here is on the music they play, and not so much on the vocals, really. Lots of buildups, some quiet parts, and excellent drumming. This band (along with approximately 78% of current black metal bands) does not give titles to their songs, just list them as numbers in the order in which they were written.

The first Lvmen record, a two song 12" released on the same label a year or two earlier, is equally as good - if not better than this cd. The solid musicianship present in their songs has always given me an almost "otherworldly" vibe when listening to Lvmen records. The band broke up shortly after this came out, but they have since reconvened and released new material, all of which was made available from the aforementioned record label. Intelligently written hardcore that probably would appeal to musicians to a greater degree than your average hc kid.

Do you like GYBE circa 2000? Me too, and this group's early catalog brings that highly praised Canadian band to mind. Somewhat, anyway. Whatever, it's fucking good, and worth checking out just for the first two tracks. Recorded in February 2000 at Sikyr Bros Studio in Prague.

-trust me, believe me-

Tracklist
1) No. 3
2) No. 4
3) No. 5
4) No. 6
5) No. 7