Do you remember those commercials for Maxell tapes they use to play religiously on t.v.? If you don’t you are either: 1) Under 35 years old; or 2) Spent much of the 80’s like Steven Adler (we love you Steven). Assuming you know not what I speak of let me explain. The commercial starts with the announcer saying something about “High Fidelity Tapes” and “after 500 plays yadda yadda yadda.” That isn’t the important part here. Let’s fast forward to the 18 second mark where you see the guy sitting in a chair looking like he is getting blown away by an onslaught of music in his face. The sound is so amazingly rich, clear and brutal that is throws him against the chair and nearly scalps him from sheer brilliance. I had the very same reaction when I cranked up the new album by Love and Death called Between Here & Lost.
Let’s start out with the song “The Abandoning.” There is but one word to describe this song and that word is brutal. At first listen I thought “Ok, Korn has decided to ditch the dubstep sound and return to their roots.” As the song continued and the chorus kicked in frankly I was in disbelief. The chorus to this song may very well be one of the best I have ever heard. It is quite incredible; very melodic and everything you could ask for in a chorus and so begins an amazing start to a fantastic album.
Next up on the roster is a remake of the Devo song “Whip It.” To be honest when I saw that this song was
on the album I thought, “Here we go again with another crappy remake. Let’s see how they ruin this classic.” Boy was I wrong about that! You will not believe your ears. I can count on one hand the instances in which I thought a band did a remake and did it justice. Love and Death not only did this song justice they totally reworked the song to the point that it is almost unrecognizable, yet it doesn’t strip the essence from the song.
Next up, “Watching The Bottom Fall” starts out great, and builds and just gets better all the way to the chorus. The riffing on this album done by guitarists JR Bareis and Brian “Head” Welch is some of the heaviest and best guitar work I have heard in a long time. “By The Way” is has a ballad tone, which is a great thing in this case. It is not as heavy as most of the other songs on the album but it is catchy as hell. If you are like me you will be singing this one before the song is over.
“Meltdown” is up next. All I can say is, “I think I’m having a meltdown.” I think Brian “Head” Welch had a meltdown in this song. It goes back and forth from melodic to shit balls heavy. Just about the time you are getting into the melody it gets all brutal on ya, Damn. “My Disaster” has some nice bass work by Michael Valentine on it.
This album is chock full of killer tunes. If you look on Dictionary.com and enter the term “All killer and no filler” a picture of this album should come up. This is the most solid CD from top to bottom that I have heard in a long time, if not ever. Brian’s vocals on this album are second to none. With songs like “I W8 4 U,” “Fading Away,” “Paralyzed” and “Chemicals,” this album is a must have in any and all music collections. The CD closes with the song “Bruises” which is creepy as hell. When the song reaches the two minute and 25 seconds mark prepare to relive that Maxell moment I had myself. Wowza!
Watch Love and Death “Chemicals”
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Interview with Dan Johnson of LOVE AND DEATH:
I recently had the chance to sit down and chat with drummer Dan Johnson, who provides the amazing beats on this epic album. He is not only a terrific timekeeper but I also found him to be one hell of a nice guy. Here is how it all went down…
How did the band arrive at the name Love and Death?
Dan/L&D: Brian was tired of going under the name Brian ‘Head’ Welch and he didn’t feel that 
represented us as a band. He wanted something that unified us as a band that didn’t sound so much like he was calling all the shots. We really are a cohesive band and using Brian ‘Head’ Welch did not really give that perception. He came up with that name because love and death are the two most significant things that you can go through in your life.
When these titles (both the new band/album names) were created was this done intentionally to create a theme or a setting for the band and do you think that the intended meanings are a good representation or description of the band?
Dan/L&D: I think everyone is really happy with the album title. I think it’s really pretty significant with songs like ‘Catastrophe‘. I thought that it was a very appropriate name for the album. As far as the band name Love and Death I was a little skeptical at first. It took a while for it to grow on me but it finally did.
You played with Brian’s solo band. Since the band has been renamed Love and Death have there been any other changes as far as writing and in actual direction etc?
Dan/L&D: As you know Brian’s first album Save Me From Myself was pretty preachy. Brian just had found God and everything and the songs were like 9 minutes long. We were more inclined this time to produce a more mainstream rock album. With the new album it’s the same kind of messages but you can apply them to anything and you don’t necessarily have to apply them to God. We wanted to make an album that was relatable to everyone. Our guitar player JR is really into the new rock and so am I so that helped a lot in writing style.
What are the dynamics of the band? Is the band a collective effort or is Brian more the leader per? How about as far as songwriting, again more Brian or more of a band effort?
Dan/L&D: It really is a collaboration on all accounts. Brian really wanted it to be more of a team effort and more of a group thing and this album is. I’m very proud of the album and I can’t wait to see what everyone thinks about it.
Let’s get into the album Between Here and Lost. What are your personal favorite songs from the album and why?
Dan/L&D: My two favorite songs are “Fading Away” and “By The Way.” Both of those songs have got big 
choruses. I like “Fading Away” because it has that punch you in the face feel to it and it has that straight kick drum and it is heavy. “By The Way” is one of our slower songs and I think the chorus on that is what did it for me.
How did the idea to do the song “Whip It” come about?
Dan/L&D: Brian had the idea to do “Whip It.” No one has ever really redone that song and he thought it would be a cool thing to do. When he first told me about that I thought to myself, “Oh, I don’t know.” After it was done and now that the whole format has changed it is now one of my favorites.
The titles to the songs on the album seem to be telling. If you go down the track listing from “The Abandoning” through “Bruises” it almost reads like a story. Would you say that is a accurate statement and that this album is sort of a form of therapy for Brian or maybe the story of his life?
Dan/L&D: Absolutely. It really is like telling a story with this album and bands don’t really do that much anymore. Brian and producer Jason Rauch were the ones that worked on that. Jason works with a lot of mainstream rock artists like Red and Breaking Benjamin so that was his doing putting them in order. I really like how the whole story flows together. Not many bands tell the story from start to finish anymore.
The band pictures you guys have released are very intense, specifically the one with you guys almost becoming human trees. Who came up with the ideas for the pictures? Are they symbolic for something or are they just interesting pictures?
Dan/L&D: I’m going to be honest here I was never told any certain meaning or anything. I think it was a photographer from Tooth & Nail Records that came up with that. When we were doing those pictures I didn’t know what they were doing with them. They told us to pose certain ways and I was like, “Ok.”
The Korn website announced back in November that Brian is playing a few full shows with Korn in Germany in 2013. There was also a video released by James “Munky” Shaffer stating that the dates were sort of a “let’s see how it goes and if it goes well there could be a possible rejoining of the band Korn.” I know you can’t speak for Brian and I am not asking you to, but I know that fans of Love and Death wonder if this will affect Love and Death in any way if that were to happen. To put rumors to rest would you like to address that?
Dan/L&D: I am all for it. He is never going to not have his own music so as far as Love and Death goes he’s always going to have his own thing like that. If that were to happen he would still do a side project and it would actually call attention to us as a band. I’m totally supportive of it and I think it is great. 
There are a lot of people that do not know about Love and Death that might hear of us from him playing with Korn. I am 100% for it.
How does it feel playing live with the guys of Love and Death?
Dan/L&D: Oh man I love it, especially now. We all like to hang out together. We are best friends and we know each other really well on stage and off stage. To connect off stage is just as important as connecting on stage. There is no negativity with this band and we all have good attitudes. We have fun every day and every time we play. All four of us poured our hearts into this so I’m glad that it shows.
What are your plans for the next year as far as touring and with all things Love and Death in general what can fans expect?
Dan/L&D: There’s going to be a lot of heavy touring. We’re going out with Thousand Foot Krutch in the middle of February. We are going to be doing a club tour with them for about six weeks. There are talks on the table of us opening up some Korn dates as well. I know they plan on keeping us busy and that’s what I’m always pushing for. It looks like we will be releasing our brand new video for “The Awakening” pretty soon. We did a video back in November and it is finally getting done now. I don’t know what video after that we are planning on releasing yet, likely some live ones.
In closing, is there anything you would like to say to your fans?
Dan/L&D: Our heart and soul went into this new album and I hope everyone really loves it. I am so very proud of it. To all the people that thought Brian should just give it up or go back to Korn full time this is proof that he is back on his feet again and this album is what it all came down to. I want all of the fans to come out and see us live and feel the energy and I want to just share it all with everybody. Since 2009 there have been a lot ups and downs. I’m not going to lie – there have been a lot more downs than ups, there’s been a lot of negativity and a lot of negative feedback. This is the album you’ve all been waiting for. I am really pumped about 2013 and confident that it is going to be a great year.
With a kickass new album and a positive outlook, the sky is the limit for Dan and his band mates in Love and Death. This is the band to keep your eyes peeled for in 2013. Don’t say we didn’t tell you so. Pick up the new album “Between Here And Lost” when it is released on January 22nd via Tooth & Nail Records. It’s gonna blow your mind. If you get a chance to catch these guys out on tour do yourself a favor and check em’ out.
Check out Love and Death’s Facebook here. Click here for their website. To Pre-order the new album on amazon click here.
J. Speagell, Contributing Writer
Photos provided by PR with photo credits to: Jeanette Yoder Photography (live shots) www.jyophoto.shootproof.co
