Viva Death, self-titled

By Adam Goetz

Viva Death is basically a new incarnation of the long-standing punk band Face To Face. The only difference is that Viva Death dedicates most of their lyrics to current political issues in the U.S.

Trevor Keith and Scott Shiflett (Face To Face) team up with Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) and Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle) to release their first album on Vagrant records. Keith and Shiflett trade off lead vocal duties on the 15 tracks, screaming out anti-establishment sentiments with an occasional ‘think about this’ sound bite. Tracks like “Terrorism for fun and profit” and “Safety is our primary concern” really resonate in their relevance to current events.

The sound of the disc varies from the abrasive fast-paced punk rock in “Fundamentalist” to very deliberate in “The rigor mortis shake.”

I have never been a fan of Face To Face, simply because it all sounded the same to me, but this disc has enough variation and some provocative lyrics to get through a couple of listens.

If you are a fan of Face To Face and the left wing, this is the album for you.