This album in one sentence: Crusty grindcore d-beat from Bergen that sounds like crusty grindcore d-beat from everywhere else in Scandinavia. "Livstid" is a decent example of how all the good albums in this genre sound, although it is a genre that's severely marred by its limited scope for experimentation. That limitation inevitably means that the mark of a good album within this Skitsystem-ruled world is simply the ability to keep up with the Joneses. It also means that unless you're either a devoted follower of all things crust or someone brand new to the genre, pretty much everything will sound the same to you. "Livstid" is a little cleaner and makes more use of melody than a lot of the stuff out there and there's enough tempo variation within the album to keep it interesting, but it's still predominately blistering fast and nasty, like all of these albums are. If that's your bag and you're either the devotee or the novice, you'll dig it. - John Norby
Livstid is the rare example of a band that is actually too raging, so much so that I can't make it through the album in one sitting. It's not just wall-to-wall noise either -- there's still plenty of melody and such -- but they are absolutely relentless in their arena-crust/d-beat attack. When a track comes up on shuffle at the gym, I'm stoked (in fact, I just did a set of 30 pushups while pondering this write-up), but there's no way I'm gonna fit this into my regular listening repertoire. So consider this a hesitant recommendation -- you'll know pretty quickly whether or not you need Livstid in your life from one short sample track.
has confirmed that they will be releasing the self-titled debut full-length from Norwegian d-beat hardcore act Livstid on October 21 and it's now available for preorder right here: http://www.tigernet.no/shop//search.php?search=livstid
Passiv Dödshjälp, completely out of the blue, blew me away with their debut CDr last year which clearly demonstrated that these Swedes were indeed able to write some 'catchy' crust tunes. Although you could clearly point out their influences, their songwriting ability and the way they incorporated dismal metallic tunes into traditional d-beat structures was simply captivating. Fast forward a couple of months, I got their new split 7" with Bergen, Norway's Livstid and I can safely say that Gävle's finest has managed to outstrip the quality of their debut. The record, which contains three songs from Passiv Dödshjälp and four from Livstid, is barely under 15 minutes and its length is perfect for those who prefer their crust punk as short and direct as possible. I don't want to downplay the caliber of the Livstid side (which is very good on its own terms), but the three Passiv Dödshjälp songs on this record superlatively fuse the ferocity of Swedish kängpunk luminaries with their contemporary, melody-instilled protégés. One of the most striking aspects of these new songs is that the band has managed to shape this integration in an almost seamless way, which in the end greatly strengthens the overall quality of their sound. The other participant of the split, Livstid has a similar game with their Swedish counterparts in terms of performing a cross-genre variant of hardcore/punk. Yet, Livstid embraces a faster approach with regularly bursting blastbeats and a discernible black metal vibe underneath a thick layer of fast-paced picking, obviously as a reflection of their hometown's grim legacy. This split 7" is a must-have for fans of Scandinavian hardcore/punk and for those who still regard vinyl as the ultimate medium to experience extreme music. - Burak Tansel
Swedish crust label Halvfabrikat will be putting out a new self-titled full-length LP from Anatomi-71 in the near future along with two new split 7"s featuring Passiv Dödshjälp/Livstid and M:40/Sand Creek Massacre. Dates and details to come.
Livstid
Passiv Dödshjälp/Livstid
