Life of Dreams

The 1980s were a fertile period for both thrash metal and hardcore punk. In the course of those genres' development, however, some bands with a foot in both doors saw an opportunity to combine the two in a novel way, and thus crossover thrash was born. One such band was Crumbsuckers, which formed in 1982 in New York. But despite being one of the earliest crossover bands, they have been curiously overlooked when compared with their East Coast contemporaries such as the Cro-Mags and Agnostic Front. In all likelihood, this was due to them only releasing two albums, Life of Dreams being their first in 1986. However, upon delving into the music beyond the weird cover art and band name, it turns out to be one of the most underrated albums of the crossover scene.

As is customary for albums of this genre, most of the songs are between 1 and 2 minutes in length, but this should not be mistaken for a lack of ideas. Tempo changes abound with the band effortlessly shifting between half and double time, especially on the title track. This gives the music a dynamism which is less present on many other hardcore albums that mainly focus on speed. Another surprising aspect of the album is how intricate many of the song arrangements are. For example, the 4-minute closer 'Mr. Hyde' leads off with an acoustic intro and afterwards goes into a 9/8 beat. 'Prelude' has multiple key and time changes while keeping a recognisable main motif (the opening riff). Meanwhile, 'The Longest War' has at least five unique sections that blend into each other seamlessly. Even the shorter tracks on the album such as 'Shot Down' and 'Faces of Death' have at least one exciting change-up that keeps the momentum going.

The drumming of Dan Richardson is consistently tasteful, never sitting on a repetitive beat for too long and often accentuating the riffs, such as with the use of syncopated triplets on 'Just Sit There' and rapid cymbal chokes on 'Super Tuesday'. He also incorporates some metal techniques, such as with the double bass section in 'Interlude'. His management of the beat ensures that thrashing and grooving sections are dished out in equal amounts. What truly gives this album an identity of its own however is the vocalist, Chris Notaro. His vocal style, mainly consisting of gruff yelling, can sound rather eccentric at first (and some of the more light-hearted lyrics certainly give that impression), but it demonstrates his pissed-off demeanour to great effect. Though more importantly, his phrasing is rock-solid even during the fastest moments, spouting a barrage of catchy vocal lines like "It's so true/It's a bullshit society".

It might be argued that the production - courtesy of Randy Burns - is somewhat polished for a hardcore album, but the band use that to their advantage to sound remarkably tight on record. They have more than enough technical proficiency on their instruments to bridge the gap between hardcore and metal. This shows in the guitar solos of Chuck Lenihan and David Wynn which are abundant, sometimes even dueling with each other as heard in the bridge of 'Trapped' and at the end of 'Shits Creek'. Yet even with this emphasis on soloing, the main form of riffing is still oriented around power chords, so it retains a hardcore feel overall while at the same time being enhanced by the frequent interplay between lead guitar parts.

Overall, thrash metal, crossover and NYHC fans alike will find lots to enjoy about this record. The surprising amount of depth as well as unpredictability in the songwriting rewards multiple listens, while the band members' technical prowess is capably balanced with a genuine display of aggression that can rival any ordinary thrash album, with some light touches of humour along the way. Even if not all 16 songs hit the mark, there is little in the way of filler with a 33 minute runtime, and the numerous highlights such as 'Just Sit There', 'Trapped' and 'Bullshit Society' make up for any weak spots. While Life of Dreams may have been underappreciated back in its day, it deserves to stand as a cult classic today.