The real gem of Deathconsciousness: The Plow that Broke the Plains & the Future has to be "Earthmover," the final song for the whole collection it combines the entire musical and songwriting elements that Have a Nice Life display into one tightly wrapped soaring moody piece that also adds new elements (like the shoegazing-esque part at roughly the midpoint of the track) not heard anywhere while still feeling and sounding at home.
Even though I really like the strange bass sound of "Deep, Deep", the up-tempo song contains keyboard flourishes and vocals that are a bit unnerving to me, and the vocal arrangements of "I Don't Love" make that song an enjoyable experience. This CD seems to be more an about face from the measured atmospheric qualities found on its companion this particular revelation becomes evident on "Holy Fucking Shit: 40,000", which seems incredibly schizophrenic with its acoustic guitar basis heard in the beginning and the ending and its heavy bludgeoning sound in the middle (but still being somewhat restrained with the unnervingly calm vocals). "Epilogue" contains a striking sound in which the music sounds almost like a bellowing call from the past as if the band is interpreting a Gregorian chant with guitars before crashing to the close of The Plow that Broke the Plains.ĭeathconsciousness: The Future, the second of the two CDs included in this release, begins with more effects of atmosphere before moving to a weird, rather pop sounding "Waiting for Black Metal Records to Come in Mail " and it also serves to set itself apart from other songs within the oeuvre of Have a Nice Life with its much quicker tempo and sometimes shouted (shouted not screamed) vocals. Besides the pretentious (and not pretentious in a bad way) title, "Who Would Leave Their Son Out in the Sun?" is probably one of the more depressing songs within recent memory.
The electronic drumbeats and bass sound (which is real hollow sounding but hypnotic at the same time) of "Bloodhail" has an almost new wave feel to it, and I swear that any person with a soul will find themselves humming along as the band sings "Arrowheads, Arrowheads, Arrowheads, Arrowheads." "The Big Gloom" could not be more apropos at describing the emotional timbre of the song for which the vocals seem to add a great deal towards establishing that quality of the music. "Introduction" swells and intones a veritable soundtrack quality in its mood and presentation that, at times, would not be out of place on Vangelis's Blade Runner soundtrack.
The first CD of Deathconsciousness: The Plow that Broke the Plains & The Future is The Plow that Broke the Plains, and from the opening calm of "Introduction," with the opening keyboards and acoustic guitars, to the end of this half of the record, Have a Nice Life plot a very atmospheric course that has a great deal to listen for while it is playing. The concept and execution of Deathconsciousness: The Plow that Broke the Plains & The Future is largely impressive and ambitious, specially so considering that Have a Nice Life funded, produced, and recorded the whole project on their own over the course of six years. The band also attempts to take on some fairly intellectual discourse surrounding a medieval heretical Christian group, called the Antiocheans, by including a thick booklet regarding the controversy, mystery, and persecution of the group over the course of their existence. and is vaguely reminiscent of some "Brit pop " but even trying to describe the band's sound in those terms does not fully explain it.
Instead, Have a Nice Life actually has a sound that pulls from a variety of influences like Joy Division, Swans, The Cure, etc. Have a Nice Life is a two-piece outfit from Connecticut that includes a member of the hardcore band, In Pieces although, this double CD collection has nothing in the way of sound that can compare to that outfit in any sense of the word. Have a Nice Life – Deathconsciousness - Enemies List, 2008
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