The Life I Know
Forgive my ignorance, but I think I must be the only person in the world who did not know that Gwen Stacy was in fact the first true love of our human arachnid friend Peter Parker AKA Spiderman. I also did not know until now that Gwen Stacy is in fact a 4 piece hardcore band from Indianapolis. They bring to the table their debut album ‘The Life I know’ after being taken under the wings of Ferret records in late 2007. For all the genre lovers I would pretty much describe their sound as a blend of hardcore and metalcore with a strong emphasis on the breakdowns. On an original note they’re also leaning towards the evangelical, with a very positive lyrical content that’s not necessarily slapping you in the face but is definitely offering a nod in that direction. The lyrics are however sung, growled and damn right bellowed into the mic for a reason, whether it’s to put forward a way of thinking or simply because that’s where there passion lies. Maybe both.
Talking musically I can only describe Gwen Stacy as predominantly hardcore with chugging guitar beat-downs, detuned chord progressions and steady, solid drumming. The songs do seem to have a habit of being able to interchange rapidly and somewhat randomly, between the breakdowns and the melodic sing along passages. This does come across slightly disjointed and unconnected as if the song structure was not as important as the flowing ideas they’ve obviously had. Ignoring this though and you do get moments of great music although it is then followed by something that seems to be added on, as if spliced in through the editing process.
Although slightly chaotic in places Gwen Stacy have offered something that is obviously fuelled with passion and aggression. The deliverance and the energy coming through this record, highlights their ability to create their sound well. Personally I think the melodic sections highlight the stand out tracks, only because other than this the record is full of one standard repetitive, which unfortunately does not bode well at distinguishing one track from another. Perhaps this is something that may be experimented with on a future release.
Fans of this genre may flock toward this record, but I don’t think others will be enticed. Gwen Stacy are unfortunately in a saturated and now fairly unoriginal market and I don’t think they are ready to expand this just yet.