Review by JD on August 22, 2010.

To make an album that stands out and makes people take note of your band , you need three basic things no matter what style you play. The three things are good and inspired lyrics, amazing music that catches your attention and the hardest thing which can never be taught - talent.

No Sign Of Life is a band that is hard to pin down in all aspects. The seem to have so many sides to them, that it pretty much speaks to the complexity they have woven into their sound. The closest comparison that I can come up with is that the band is a weird sort of union of Alexonfire meets part Novembers Doom (in places), part Cancer Bats and a whole load of We, The Undersigned (Canadian).

The band clearly are some really good musicians, who are perhaps trying way too hard... a fact that the album had clearly shown. The flow of the music seems to reflect that the band is trying to put so much in to every song to their disadvantage is the effect on the music is that it is so chaotic, and not in a good way either. Each track seems to start well, but would end up mired in they trying to do so much.

They are musically very exceptional but too much of a good thing leads to the term ‘overkill’. Perhaps they need to simplify their songs down a few notches and let the power of the song itself drive the music and not the chaos. They are damned good but they need to slow down, plan it out more and just keep it a little more clear. Frenzied attacking music does not always mean that it is good.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 7.5
Production: 7.5
Originality: 8
Overall: 7.5


Rating: 7.7 out of 10