| Better to Die on Your Feet Than Live on Your Knees | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 31, 2012 | |||
| Genre | Grindcore | |||
| Length | 26:56 | |||
| Label | Relapse | |||
| Producer | Matthew Widener | |||
| Liberteer chronology | ||||
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Better to Die on Your Feet Than Live on Your Knees is the debut album by American grindcore project Liberteer. It was released on January 31, 2012 through Relapse Records. [1]
Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as: thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. Grindcore is characterized by a noise-filled sound that uses heavily distorted, down-tuned guitars, grinding overdriven bass, high speed tempo, blast beats, and vocals which consist of growls and high-pitched shrieks. Early groups like Napalm Death are credited with laying the groundwork for the style. It is most prevalent today in North America and Europe, with popular contributors such as Brutal Truth and Nasum. Lyrical themes range from a primary focus on social and political concerns, to gory subject matter and black humor.
Liberteer is the grindcore project of Santa Cruz, California–based musician Matthew Widener, best known for his work for Exhumed, The County Medical Examiners and Cretin. The project started out as a band under the name Citizen and went through a name change with Widener's shifting political views. It released its debut album, Better to Die on Your Feet Than Live on Your Knees in 2012 through Relapse Records.
Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features a large number of grindcore, death metal, and sludge metal artists.
Contents
The album showcases a grindcore sound with influences from bluegrass, folk music, black metal [2] and old school death metal, [3] as well as classical music, which the band leader Matthew Widener studies. [4] It also features major-key riffs, digitized horns, banjos, mandolin, martial drumming and blast beats. [5] The record is a concept album with an anarchist sentiment and named after an Emiliano Zapata quote.
Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the United States Appalachian region. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in traditional English, Irish, and Scottish ballads and dance tunes, and by traditional African-American blues and jazz. The Blue Grass Boys played a Mountain Music style that Bill learned in Asheville, North Carolina from bands like Wade Mainer's and other popular acts on radio station WWNC. It was further developed by musicians who played with him, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe characterized the genre as: "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's Methodist and Holiness and Baptist. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."
Folk music includes traditional folk music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers, or music performed by custom over a long period of time. It has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. The term originated in the 19th century, but folk music extends beyond that.
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emphasis on atmosphere. Artists often appear in corpse paint and adopt pseudonyms.
