It’s been a good while since I’ve heard Dylan Richter’s voice. Last in For the Fallen Dreams, his duration with the band crafted some of my favorite melodic hardcore singles, “The Big Empty” and “Hollow”. While this era was several years ago, Richter is back with a new band. Lost For Life looks to continue the vocalist’s efforts with bandmate Jason Spencer.
Thankfully, debut EP We All Share The Blame retains a lot of what made his run in FTFD special. Richter’s signature uncleans are just as good as they were in the early 2010s, and he’s even made progress in the cleans which used to be a bit rough. With an instrumental backing that brings some quality melodies, it picks up from where the vocalist left off, so lots of credit goes to Jason for making Lost For Life a profound act.
Highlight tracks on We All Share The Blame are “Keep Me Down” for having a solid heavy outing, and “Right Your Wrongs” challenging Richter to sing just as much as scream. The lyrical content on the EP is pretty par-for-the-course, but the stellar delivery makes it a moot point. A strong mix/master job, courtesy of Shane Grush and Mike Kalajian (respectively), make the instrumentals noteworthy for a first release.
In the end, this is pretty familiar territory for listeners of melodic hardcore as Lost For Life play it safe in their debut. That doesn’t detract from the tunes at all, though, as it shows the two musicians have promise and could be tacked onto tours once they resume. Listen to Lost For Life’s We All Share The Blame when it releases July 17th!
Rating: 7/10
A press copy of We All Share The Blame was provided courtesy of Lost For Life.
