(((((OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain))))): ONE DAY AS A LION

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

ONE DAY AS A LION

Band: ONE DAY AS A LION

Genres: Punk / Hip Hop / Synth-Rock / Industrial / Alternative
Related artists: Rage Against The Machine, The Mars Volta, Queens Of The Stone Age, Hard Stance, Farside, Golden, Him, Life Coach, Royal Trux and Inside Out.
Country: USA
Years Active: 2008
Song: "If You Fear Dying"
Album: "One Day As A Lion"
Year: 2008
Label(s): Anti
This post's artist is from the April 2014 Mix. This is track #8.
You can download the April 2014 Mix#4 right here.
For fans of: Rage Against The Machine, Dance Disaster Movement, Zack Hill, The Mars Volta, Inside Out, Hella and a bunch of stuff I don't listen to and therefore cannot reference.

This is one hell of an anomaly for me. It took me the better part of a decade before I realized the brilliance of Rage Against The Machine, primarily because I disliked the vocals. I'm not one who generally likes rap/hip-hop music, so that's the main reason it was so difficult. Enter 2008 and out of nowhere Zack De La Rocha and Jon Theodore drop this 5-song EP without the traditional rock instruments - just synth, drums and vocals. The vocals aren't too different than your standard RATM fare, but all those sweet bass and guitar riffs are non-existent. Then why do I like this EP better than most RATM stuff? Maybe it's because I'm so ignorant when it comes to this genre that ONE DAY AS A LION impressed the hell out of me because I don't know any better. Or maybe it's just fuckin' awesome, and track for track is up there with any RATM album, albeit in a different style.

In a quick and most likely vain attempt to classify the band, aka 2-piece, I'd go with hip-hop meets industrial synth-sludge. The first track on the EP ("Wild International") says it all with the keyboard drops like some kind of fuzzed-out bass bomb. Couple that with hi-hat heavy drums as well as Zack's unmistakable rhymes and you've got some very unique songs. The album even showcases a few moments where I'd say he's full-on singing and generally it works. I must admit that I don't usually like synths, but this mixture of sounds and styles helps the primary instrument come across as neither cheesy nor out of place. And lastly, coming as no surprise, the lyrics are political as fuck.

"If you fear dying then you're already dead." Ba na - na na na, ba naaaaa, ba naaaaa.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2008 - Wild International cd/12"EP (download here)

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(2008) ONE DAY AS A LION - "If You Fear Dying" (from 'One Day As A Lion')