A new album from Your Life On Hold is always a dark feast! After putting his life on hold John Wolf now is in transition (Bardo). After 2 albums it’s very clear that Your Life On Hold has a sound of their own and each album is darker and very personal. Let’s enjoy this dark Gothic Rock epos together!
The promo sheet gives us very useful info about the concept: “The Bardo is the Tibetan term for the Buddhist ‘intermediate state’ between death and reincarnation. But in this narrative, the concept was torn free from the Tibetan or any other religious interpretation. In that way the Bardo becomes a metaphor for the main idea behind Your Life On Hold. It’s the in-between world, that no-man’s-land between different stages in your life, between relationships, between darker days and better days. It’s the very core of what Your Life On Hold is all about. The new album ‘Echoes from the Bardo’ wants to be the soundtrack for this psychological no-man’s-land where dreams and fears are stuck together.”
Let’s now focus on the music:
Anywhere Out There has already been launched as a single with a great video. It’s the perfect track to start with: prime quality Gothic Rock with a nice tempo and cool vocals. This is how gothic rock should sound like! The guitars are just perfect, the gothic feeling is very much alive and the lyrics are fitting the song. I’m proud it‘s a band from Belgium as too many bands in our country from this genre where not able to step outside of the pool of good demo bands. The exception on this rule if Star Industry!
Next single with clip is Train To Nowhere, a song about a passage in a foreign country that inspired John: during a long trip and passing by great landscapes. It’s also a very personal song and you can hear it on the passion in his voice when he sings it. The guitars are once again finger licking great! This song sets a standard for other gothic rock track for the future!
Monks singing sacred chants, that’s how I Can Feel Every Part starts! It’s a very emotional track, carrying a heavy burden! However the tempo is slow: you get captured by the heavy tone/feel of it. It’s clear John knows how to get rid of his pain and share it with us!
Let’s Start A War, follows almost needless (I noticed it too late and had to back to be sure I wasn’t missing a song) but goes much harder and sound like screaming out the pain and start acting like a Viking on a raid with the only goal: kill as much people as possible and burn it all down! This song will also be a mayor hit on stage (I think it might even be the last song of a regular set and put the roof on fire)! Stuck in The Bardo starts with the vocals of the label owner himself aka Artaud Seth, whilst a bass and a synth surround him. The song has a mystical touch and could have been used in an RPG game during an animated cutscene. Once again I almost missed the start of the new song: Erase Me! The tempo is higher and the screaming heavier. The song feels like getting finally rid of the darkness but shredding to pieces with a monstruous power. Imprisoned could have been placed just before the previous song as we still hear doubts and an uncertain feeling if all the good will prevail! The darkness is still there: leaving a shadow of doubt. Save Me From The Void starts with a lighter feel, but the lyrics remind you we are still struggling with the pain and the darkness. In the song John mainly seems to hustle with the past and tries to escape it (before he can work on his future). The last song is slowly blooming: Let’s Start A Fire. In the beginning John is merely whispering and thinking out loud whilst the guitar produces a typical 80’s sound. Slowly building up the tension, the rage and empowered by real emotions! It's great ending for a perfect gothic Rock album! I'm pretty sure it will be called a classic Gothic Rock Anthem in a few years! Keep on going John and friends!
