[3.5/5]
Metalcore has become a maze of prosaic, mortality-related monikers, and A Life Once Lost's name relegates them to a crowded realm, somewhere between the buried and those that lay dying. Instead of rechristening themselves, this Philadelphia-based band have gradually migrated away from the genre's touchstones: Climactic breakdowns and frantic thrashing. 2005's HUNTER introduced sludgy Southern rock to the mix, and Iron Gag completes the group's metamorphosis into a next-generation Pantera, with Bob Meadows trading his agitated-viper hiss for a gruff bark. Guitarists Doug Sabolick and Robert Carpenter maintain their technical chops, decorating these groove-driven tunes with harmonic solos and erratically rhythmic Meshuggah-style stop-and-start riffs. Iron Gag ranges from slow-winding gloomy numbers to steady-paced hardcore chuggers, a dense heaviness lingering throughout the record like oppressively humid air. In a musical climate that values spastic speed, A Life Once Lost's burly new approach might make it the next great trendkiller. (FERRET; ferretstyle.com) Andrew Miller
 Official Website: http://www.ferretstyle.com
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