No Life Til Metal - CD Gallery

1. "Where the Door Leads" (3:58)
2. "Bitter Reminder" (2:23)
3. "Slide The Wheel" (2:51)
4. "To the Grave" (3:02)
5. "Can't Get Out" (3:40)
6. "Raised from the Silence" (2:24)
7. "Despise" (2:55)
8. "Take It All Away" (4:57)
9. "You Remain" (3:00)

I had heard of these guys years ago, but never really checked them out. Of course I couldn't resist this CD when I discoverd they do a cover of Vengeance Rising's "Can't Get Out". Step Cousin, despite having an incredibly cheesy name and despite their affiliation to Lordchain, play some decent death/thrash metal. I can't really say that Step Cousin are true to either style, but most times ride the fence between death metal and thrash. Most of the songs here are mid-tempo and never really go into realms of pure speed. Mortification fans, especially those of the band's earlier CDs will probably love this. Many of the songs have that early Mort sound. As a matter of fact, "Raised from the Dead" and "Despise" sound so incredibly like "Post Momentary" era Mortification, that I had to check the cover to see if Steve Rowe had done some guest vocals. Likewise, the lyrics here are straight up evangelical, not unlike Mortification. Occassionally the band breaks away from the Mortification sound. "Take It All Away" for example has some clean vocals that almost seem out of place. Also, Step Cousin incorporates a bit flashier lead work than Mortification. Regardless, it is quite obvious that Step Cousin were going for that Mort sound. Having been a long time fan myself, I can appreciate the band's influence on them. Here is hoping for some more good stuff from these guys in the future.

1. "Deceiver" (3:09)
2. "Break My Legs" (3:07)
3. "Lonely Garden" (3:20)
4. "Wash Away" (2:56)
5. "Standing on the Mountain" (6:26)
6. "Power Jukie" (3:14)
7. "Hate Me" (4:12)
8. "I Was Alive" (3:35)
9. "Hook Through the Lip" (3:21)
10. "Inside This Mind" (3:42)
11. "God in a Box" (3:53)
12. "Spell of the World" (4:06)
13. "Treading Tainted Waters" (3:27)

"Innocence Before Oblivion" is mid-paced, groove oriented heavy metal. For some reason I remember the first album being a bit heavier and more thrash oriented that this CD. The first three tracks actually remind me of Eternal Decision. It's not until track four "Wash Away" that the band kicks up the tempo a bit. This song actually reminds me of Mortification, with even the vocals emmulating Steve Rowe here and there. The Mortification influence continues right into the next few tracks, "Standing on the Mountain", "Power Junkie" and especially "God in a Box". "I Was Alive" is a slow, doomy song that was originally written by Randy Rose. The lyrics, as on their first disc, are straight forward evangelistic, dealing with Christian issues and even some moments of pure Adonia worship. Also worth mentioning is that the cover art was done by Troy Dunmire, who has done many of Mortification's covers as well.

Jeff Grady and Kelly Matthews return in 2010 with their third Step Cousin release, once again self released on their own Corduroy Boy label. Step Cousin's sound is often described at thrash metal, and that most certainly is a big part of their sound. However, this is not straight forward thrash metal, nor is it an attempt at retro-thrash. As in the past, Step Cousin allow some of their influences to come through their music. "Behind the Veil" has some obvious and blatant similarities to classic Mortification. This up-tempo song is a death/thrash song for the most part with growled vocals, save for the chorus which is groove based and features clean, shouted vocals. The song also has two mid-paced breakdowns with a wah-wah solo, one in the middle of the song and one at the end. The title track is perhaps one of the best songs on the album and again has some similarities to Mortification, including the growled vocals. The song is features a heavy riff and some hard hitting lyrics about the creation vs. evolution debate. There are some bits of someone preaching about the debate sprinkled throughout the song as well. Following the first bit of preaching the band breaks into a progressive, instrumental section that offers a definite nod to Tourniquet. "Tears on My Pillow" is a speedy metal song with mostly clean vocals. There's an interesting audio sample break after the chorus of a woman speaking in German. (At least I think it's German.) Without going into each and every song, Step Cousin offer a solid metal album that mixes together modern thrash and groove with some old school death metal vocals and some clean vocals. I personally like Kelly Matthews more aggressive death and thrash metal style vocals over the cleaner singing voice. The band also offers up a few other surprises such as a dueling flute and guitar solo in "A Friend Like You".

Artwork by Troy Dunmire who is known for his work with Mortification. I find this to be one of his better illustrations, ranking up with Mortification's "Primitive Rhythm Machine".