Review: Illuminate Me – I Have Become A Corpse
Artist: Illuminate Me
Album: I Have Become A Corpse
Rating: 10/10
Recently signed to Tragic Hero Records, Florida’s Illuminate Me is one of the best up-and-coming southern hardcore bands I’ve heard in awhile. Ever since the release of their debut single, “Ouija Board Taught Me Everything I Know”, I was pumped to review their debut album. The band is the brainchild of Chris Murray, who some of you may know from Sailing With Ghosts. If you’re a fan of bands like Every Time I Die, Sworn In and the like, you’ll easily fall in love with Illuminate Me. Their debut album, I Have Become A Corpse, came out on February 4th and features 3 guest vocalists: Garret Rapp (The Color Morale), Jerry Roush (Glass Cloud), and Landon Tewers (The Plot In You), who also mastered the album.
From beginning to end, you will feel the raw emotion in every note, lyric and beat. You can tell that this band not only had a lot to prove with this release, but also that they had fun doing it! Take “Ouija Board Taught Me Everything I Know”, for example, it seems to be a bittersweet love song. It speaks of the sad, harsh truth of the world: Women typically don’t want a man unless he has money. “At the end of the day, I’ll always be judged by the amount I have in my wallet. I’m no one’s fucking lover unless I have a good budget!”
“Voodoo Blues”,featuring the very talented Garret Rapp, is a track about the spell that love can cast on you and how you feel when you realize how fake it’s all been. “An empty stomach and pissed off motives. Cut my goddamn wrists, I’ll give you the verdict. Play me off, play me off just like the rest you touch!” Those words pretty much sum up what encompasses this track, the instrumentals in this track really draw you in, bash your skull and leave you wanting more… but you’ll soon find out, this is just the beginning!
“No Sunshine in the Sunshine State” is pretty obvious by the title. It’s about Chris’ hatred for his home state, how fake the people in the community are and how he just wants to get away from it all. “Set Florida on fire. Fall in line one by one, it just makes me sick! No self expression, no self-awareness, we’re losing our identity to these fat inhuman pricks! So tell me another way I don’t fit in!” Given these few lines, it could be speaking of the government.. whether in the area or the US government in general.
The album is filled with pissed off, angst-ridden tracks that will have you losing your voice from screaming them at the top of your lungs! In this 28-minute journey, you won’t find a better hardcore album, especially if you’re in one of those “fuck the world” types of moods! Each guest executes their parts flawlessly, although Landon’s is definitely my favorite! Are you intrigued yet? Good! Now go pick up your copy of I Have Become A Corpse or become like the rest of the day-to-day zombies in the world! Tragic Hero signed one hell of a band and you’ll quickly see why!
Catch them on the “Tour of Thrones” w/The Paramedic, Everyone Dies in Utah and Sirena starting next month:
8/7 Lansing, MI – The Loft
8/8 Barrington, IL – Penny Road Pub
8/9 Racine, WI – The Showcase
8/10 Steelville, IL – Steelville American Legion
8/11 Marietta, GA – Swayzees
8/13 Orlando, FL – Bombshells Tavern
8/15 Fayetteville, NC – Drunk Horse Pub
8/16 Louisville, KY – Haymaker Whiskey Bar
8/17 Youngstown, OH -The Crawl Space
8/18 Buffalo, NY – Broadway Joe’s
8/19 Providence, RI – The Dive Bar
8/20 Clifton, NJ – Dingbatz
“Voodoo Blues (ft. Garret Rapp)” (Official Lyric Video)
“Ouija Board Taught Me Everything I Know” Official Music Video
“Apples to Whoranges (ft. Jerry Roush)” Live Music Video
