Level 2 by Last Chance to Reason – It’s not easy living inside a video game

Imagine you live inside the world of a video game, unaware that you are being controlled by the player. And yet, deep inside you feel you have no free will, that the actions you take are only commands from someone else, someone unknown and unseen. Or perhaps they are predetermined by pieces of programming. This is an inspired approach to a concept album of any kind; that you would find it in the genre of technical death metal is particularly surprising. The album Level 2 by the American band Last Chance to Reason, however, does just this. To my knowledge, it is, within its genre, quite unique in this regard.

In terms of song writing and musicianship, the album is a typical example of its ilk, albeit in a notably expert way: technically precise, and with progressive compositions that have no interest in appealing to the masses. But lyrically, the album feels fresh and unique. The songs present the virtual reality of a video game, and the lyrics are the thoughts of a character, or possibly several characters, inhabiting that reality. What’s more, an actual video game was to be released in conjunction with the album, with the music serving as the soundtrack to the game, one song per level, and the game, presumably, visualizing the world of the lyrics. This kind of marriage between music and video games is an absolutely tantalizing possibility, but, alas, the full game never came to fruition. Only the first level was initially released as a free demo online. The second level was released a little later, also for free. As of writing this, the first level is no longer available, but the second level can still be found online.

The musicians are at the top of their game here. Progressive music, with its unusual time signatures and erratic rhythms, riffs and melodies, surely demands more skill of its players, yet these guys make it seem totally effortless. The rhythms wind and shift in maze-like patterns, yet never losing the through line of the song and never sacrificing cohesion. The compositions are not what one would call “easily digestible”, but there are enough hooks to keep even an unaccustomed listener interested. Technical death metal can sometimes get, well, too technical for its own good, but not here. The band has calibrated their sound just right, too, and the album has been mixed to a T; the rhythm guitar has a pleasant fullness to its sound, and the guitar solos are sometimes melodic, sometimes fast, the shredding occasionally even delightfully emulating those hyperactive soundtracks of old video games; the synthesizer keyboard further ties the music to the virtual world, giving the overall sound a nice electronic touch; the drums, as is often the case in progressive music, are given more to do than just provide rhythm, and find surprising moments to blast out quick bursts of double bass beats and other flourishes; and the vocals alternate between low, guttural growling and clean singing that has strength and texture to it but is also not afraid to sound tender or even vulnerable.

One can only dream of the multimedia experience of playing the game and listening to the album at the same time. But the album stands on its own and is insanely re-listenable. So good it is, indeed, and contains so many musical ideas, that it is very nearly impossible to take it all in in one listen-through, even with intense concentration. This is an absolute marvel of an album.

 

The second level of the game that was supposed to accompany the album can be accessed here: https://gamejolt.com/games/level-2-the-virus-master/41597

Release date: April 12, 2011

Label: Prosthetic Records

Length: 43:50

Vocals: Michael Lessard

Guitar: AJ Harvey

Guitar: Evan Haines

Bass: Chris Corey

Keyboards: Brian Palmer

Drums: Evan Sammons

 

Picture credit: https://lastchancetoreason.bandcamp.com/album/level-2

Screen capture of the game taken by the author

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