Madlife

21^st Century Megalomaniac

Angry Phil – Vocals

Isaiah Stuart – Guitar

Kyle Cunningham – Drums

Carlos Pagan - Bass

Madlife arrived in early 2000 as an industrial hard rock band. The LA group quickly recorded their first EP. After playing LA a bit more their second EP surfaced. In 2005 they embarked on their first national tour, but in 2006 the band was reconstructed with a new bassist and drummer and headed out for another national tour. Their third tour preceded their third EP. Flashing forward to 2013 the band has released their 4^th EP. The 5 track release features a track that debuted at #8 on the Mediabase Active Rock Radio. They get the album going though with “Just One Gun”. The tune begins a bit odd, however I feel that it will get a crowd riled up. The tunes hit pretty hard and the vibe is nice and upbeat. The lyrics and vocals are easy to follow along with and I can see this track catching fire. The overall feel of the track is a bit sadistic with a twist. I can see people getting into this one, but it does start to repeat a bit at the end. “To Live and Die In Hollywood” is a little on the theatrical side. They throw in more effects in this one than the first. You can hear the industrial side of the band in the track because of those effects. Other than that though, the track could stand on its own. The vocals are great. I love the way they offer up the lyrics which you can grab a hold of go with. The vibe of the track could almost put it into a club and actually if this was in a club I might be compelled to go. I love this track as you could really get yourself pumped up before a big game or match. “I Know the Feeling” is a phenomenal track. I could listen to this tune over and over again. The vibe is great and the transitions between the sections are clean as you can get. The vocals offer up the lyrics on a silver platter. The chorus is great and the verses bring everything together. The tunes behind the vocals strike a nerve and won’t leave you alone. This is a track that could do some major damage on the airwaves. This track should be in rotation on every iPod in the world, it’s that strong. “Pain of Pleasure” beings with a nice intro that would start a show of right or when coming back from a break. It grabs your attention and you can’t walk away. It goes to the dark side of things and with the backing vocals really showing there presents for the first time the track has added depth. It rolls along strong, but I don’t think it is as strong as a couple of others thus far. “Still Alive” wraps up the album with what sound like a heavy industrial/experimental track. Once it really gets going it doesn’t sound too bad, but the beginning was hard to get past. It might be my least favorite on the EP, but those Tool and NIN fans might be drawn to this one a bit more than the others. Overall this is a killer EP and I’m glad I was able to experience it. There are several of the tracks that could impact the radio in a great way and they would also get a crowd to head into frenzy mode. I really like most of the vocals and they change things up which is key. The music is solid. They hit hard when they need to and compliment at the other times. There is a nice balance in the tracks and most of the transitions between sections are clean. I didn’t hear too many screeches in the vocals that may detour people away. This is an album that every rock fan needs to check out and now!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Tracks to Watch:

To Live and Die In Hollywood and I Know the Feeling

Track List:

1. Just One Gun
2. To Live and Die In Hollywood
3. I Know the Feeling
4. Pain of Pleasure
5. Still Alive

Website (s):  www.madlifemusic.com