Few Left Standing - Regeneration Of Self

Reviewed by Alex Figgis

Produced by Living Sacrifice vocalist Bruce Fitzugh, 'Regeneration Of Self' offers a vibrant tapestry of sound. Ambitious in terms of musical vision, Fitzugh has evidently stretched the band in order to realise their potential, without imposing his own agenda. There is a welcome independent vibe which runs throughout 'Regeneration...', allowing the band's tightly delivered brand of hard core to be delivered with technical fluidity, instead of becoming hampered by over production. 'Regeneration...' is awash with complex passages of sound, carrying with it messages that challenge, inspire and encourage the listener in an intelligent and thought provoking manner. Of immediate appeal is "Restoration". Based on Psalm 23, the song soon builds upon Lancaster's acoustically delivered introduction, where the familiar rumble of Winter's bass emerges within the scope of Keegin's drumming; forming a formidable musical platform from which Stafford quotes the familiar Psalm to great effect, occasionally screaming "God we need your Spirit/Be made new/Restore my soul/Hear my voice." Along with such superbly delivered, groove-orientated material as "Tongues Of Fire" and the technical brilliance of "Prevail", 'Regeneration...' offers a fine insight into a band that is destined to go from strength to strength. Also reviewed in CR75: Few Left Standing may just be a very apt name for this band as after moshing your way through a gig with these guys you'd feel like you needed a well deserved sit down! The first thing you notice when putting this in your hi fi (and please make sure those bass levels on set to "extra thick and chunky") is the energy released by this CD, it really does blow you away. The guitars are just fantastic, the drums are kinetic with well used aggression, the bass is big and beefy and the vocals are raw and relentless. If you want to hear the best bit first, turn straight to track seven. "Tongues Of Vipers" just has THE best intro, with the challenging, "Now you without sin . can cast the first stone" followed up by chunky and tuneful guitar, cue drums and we have a song of great proportions. Sadly, the rest of the song doesn't know where to go from there and it rather peters out into an "average" track. As far as the rest of the album is concerned it has some real highlights as in "Fruitless" and "Prevail". Certainly no lack of message in these lyrics, nor energy, nor talent. 9 Greg Sammons