Decibrity Playlist: A Life Once Lost

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A Life Once Lost’s fifth full-length has been a long time coming. Not only has it been five years since our hometown favorites put out Iron Gag, but when we last spoke to Doug Sabolick back in January 2011 (you know, back when there was hope for the Phightins), the band had already been writing and demoing for a year. But now that Ecstatic Trance is finally set to drop on October 22nd, we figured we’d let the guitarist fill you in—via playlist—on what might be in store for your discerning ears. Given that he played a bevy of instruments—heavy and lead guitars, bass, Hammond organ and initial drum programming—he “had to pull from different things [he] liked about other bands and types of music,” so it’s not surprising that his picks span the musical [name of the arena housing the Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers from 1967 to 2009]. You can listen along here.

King Crimson—”Discipline” (from 1981’s Discipline)
I took elements of Robert Fripp’s style for the heavy rhythym guitars in Ecstatic Trance. I wanted to keep the heavy guitars as mechanical as possible. I tried to take some licks from this album and turn them into riffs. There are a few parts on Ecstatic Trance I tread on stealing, but due to the other instrumentation it doesn’t come off that way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO2BIf12xnQ

Can—”Halleluhwah” (from 1971’s Tago Mago)
Kraftwerk—”Radioactivity” (from 1975’s Radio-Activity)
The drums and vibe Ecstatic Trance were influence by a lot of Krautrock. Repeating patterns to create bigger picture vibes that suck you in. Minimalistic drumming so the bass drum and snares hit harder and mean something when they are being hit. Trance inducing.

Funkadelic—”Maggot Brain” (from 1971’s Maggot Brain)
The grail of licks. I based a lot of my lead playings off of Eddie Hazel. My brother introduced me to playing like this and I am forever in debt to him for it. I basically tried to play the blackest shit I could over the whitest shit I could. Inject my soul into the veins of the dark depressive vibes we created with the riffs/bass/drums.

Fela Kuti & Afrika 70—”Mister Follow Follow” (from 1977’s Zombie)
We also took a lot from Afrobeat music on Ecstatic Trance. A lot of the riffs/drums and bass grooves were heavy metal takes on Afrobeat. I chose this song in particular because the lyrics mean something to me. It represents how I feel about a lot of bands and people in the music industry. You scared little bitches.

“Some dey follow follow, dem close dem eye
Some dey follow follow, dem close dem mouth
Some dey follow follow, dem close dem ear
Some dey follow follow, dem close dem sense
Make you open eye, open ear, open mouth, open sense
My brothers, make you no follow book-o
Look am and use your sense”

Killing Joke—”Asteroid” (from 2003’s Killing Joke)
We covered this song in the Ecstatic Trance sessions. I was influenced by industrial due to me working in a metal bar that turns into a nightclub sometimes. Dance beats with dirtier production. I would program beats that just had a pulse and loop them to come up with my intial riffs. KJ is sick and I like that they got WAY heavier with time. I knew we could make a decent version of this song in one day and we did.

*Pre-order a copy of Ecstatic Trance here!

**Check out the band on tour this fall with Revocation and KEN mode:

10/18 – Trenton, NJ @ The Backstage at Championship Bar (No KEN mode)
10/19 – Montreal, QC @ Katacombes
10/20 – Toronto, ON @ Wreck Room
10/21 – Lansing, MI @ Mac’s Bar
10/22 – Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge
10/23 – St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
10/24 – Winnipeg, MB @ Osborne Village Inn
10/26 – Calgary, AB @ Vern’s
10/27 – Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop
10/29 – Tacoma, WA @ The Loch’s
10/30 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon – Lounge
10/31 – Portland, OR @ Rotture
11/1 – San Francisco, CA @ The Sub Mission
11/2 – Fullerton, CA @ Slidebar
11/3 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Chaser’s
11/4 – El Paso, TX @ House of Rock
11/5 – San Antonio, TX @ Korova
11/6 – Austin, TX @ Red 7
11/8 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
11/9 – Charlotte, NC @ The Casbah @ Tremont Music Hall
11/10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
11/11 – Albany, NY @ Bogies
11/12 – New York, NY @ The Studio At Webster Hall
11/13 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott