Album Review: No Love Lost - 'Embraced By Hate'

Sydney hardcore guru’s No Love Lost have decided to release their new record “Embraced By Hate” as a free download on the internet. The band built themselves a solid fan base following the release of their debut album “Unleash The Shackled” in 2008, which lead them to playing shows with the likes of Shipwreck A.D, Carpathian, Caliban, Deez Nuts, Against and many more.

From the opening song “Sacred”, you can tell this album is going to be heavy. The band’s front man Pilks distinctive vocals are still as good as ever, even getting heavier in parts since the band’s last release. The guitar and drum sound is huge, a step up from the last album, which wasn’t really lacking in that department in the first place. The following tracks “Banished”, “Snake In The Grass” and “No Beauty In Death” follow in a similar fashion with heavier guitar parts and fast, driven drums. There’s no room for fucking around with these songs, everything is hard and straight to the point, and I like that.

Jamie Hope, former vocalist of The Red Shore contributes guest vocals to the song “Book Of Lies” and it sounds heavy as hell. The song is definitely up there with the heaviest songs the band has ever written. The next three tracks on the album, while not as strong as some of the tracks on the first half of the record, are still quite impressive and highlight the band’s ability to write quality heavy music. The band’s final track “Undefeated” follows a similar formula to the rest of the songs on the album, guitar parts that are heavy as fuck while still quite technical at the same time and Pilks’ trademark vocals. Good way to see out the record. The album’s "Outro" is huge and I can imagine kids going mental to it if the band decides to play it live.

The only disappointing thing about this being a digital download is there is no chance to read along to the lyrics for this album. No Love Lost’s first album had great lyrics, and explanations about the lyrics which allowed you to get a good insight into what Pilks was thinking when he wrote the songs. The production on this album sounds massive, Roman at Complex Studios has produced another quality sounding record.

If you were a fan of No Love Lost’s first album you should love this, “Embraced By Hate” is a bigger, badder, heavier and tougher version of the band’s debut.

Download the record for free here.

This album is a perfect example of metallic hardcore how it should be played. Look out for No Love Lost when they start playing shows again later this year. Download this album.

1. Sacred

2. Banished

3. Snake In The Grass

4. No Beauty In Death

5. Book Of Lies

6. Unrepairable

7. Reborn

8. Nothing Left

9. Undefeated

10. Outro