A PLEA FOR PURGING
The Life And Death Of A Plea For Purging
[Facedown Records]
Verdict: 7/10

Nashville, Tennessee’s A PLEA FOR PURGING have been on the Christian music scene for 6 years now, and have never really showed any signs of slowing down. Since the release of the bands first self titled EP in 2006, APFP have gotten progressively more confident and relevant with their brand of metalcore. 2010′s The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell was the band’s most abrasive record to date. Andy Atkins vocals were assaulting and his lyrical content was boarder line confrontational. The music was teetering on the verge of being Christian metals answer to the ungodly brutal THE ACACIA STRAIN. It even introduced more clean singing which ended up adding to the bands already unmatched musical prowess. With The Life And Death Of… the band experiment a little more, adding flourishes found in bands like LEGEND and DELUSIONS. A small smattering of ‘electronics’ liters the musical soundscape as does the downtuned guitars, much like the last record they teeter on the verge of being ungodly heavy (no pun intended) but this time they hold back enough that it isn’t too in your face. It’s something that APFP fans have come to expect and they refuse to let them down. Opening track ‘The Life’ starts off the record in the right direction. It’s breakdowns and gruff vocals remind the listener why these guys are so good. From here the salvo continues, only on this record theres an underlying message of hopelessness or maybe it’s confusion. Andy’s lyrics aren’t as militant as usual and more introspective. It’s to be expected considering the personal trials he has gone through lately. It’s the acoustic tinged tracks that have the most impact on this record, like the haunting ‘Skin & Bones’, as they end up taking the listener on a ride through the psyche of a tortured soul. Amazing stuff. The only, and I stress only, thing hindering this record is that throughout it’s 14 tracks (15 if you have the bonus track ‘Fat Pride’) is that the last half of the album losses steam and starts to blur into one track. Not to say any of the songs on The Life And Death Of… are boring or lack any real substance, it’s just, perhaps this could’ve been done as two EP’s, The Life Of… and then The Death Of… but that is merely an opinion. All that aside, A PLEA FOR PURGING have released a deeply personal and moving record with The Life And Death Of A Plea For Purging. Let’s hope the “death” part isn’t a warning that these giants are about to throw in the towel anytime soon. -by Jon Hole

Recommended listening: ‘The Life’, ‘Heart Of A Child’, ‘Skin & Bones’, ‘The Death’ and ‘The Setting Sun’
Guest appearances: Chad Johnson of Hundredth on ‘My Song’; Chad Ruhlig of Legend on ‘Heart Of A Child’ and Chad Urich of Venia on ‘The Death’
Production credits: Recorded, mixed, mastered, and produced by Josh Schroeder of Random Awesome! Recording Studio
Release date: November 8, 2011
In conclusion…A Plea For Purging have released a very mature and personal record with The Life And Death Of…, but is it a warning of a future for the band that may never see another release? Or is it meant as a rebirth?