Only Living Witness - Prone Mortal Form

Artist: Only Living Witness
Album: Prone Mortal Form
Label: Century Media
Release: 1993

Tracklist:

1. Prone Mortal Form
2. Root
3. Voice of Disrepair
4. Silo
5. Veracity, Tenacity and Aspirin
6. Slug
7. Twitching Tongues
8. Nineveh
9. Darkly
10. December
11. Prone Mortal Form (1992 Demo)
12. Twitching Tongues (1992 Demo)
13. Window 4:45 (1992 Demo)
14. Nineveh (1992 Demo)
15. Slug (1992 Demo)

Whenever I ask someone if they've heard of Boston's Only Living Witness, I usually get weird reactions. A scene vet friend of mine immediately asked if they were "jesuscore." Hardly. Formed in the early 1990s by ex-members of thrash metal band Formicide and the vocally gifted Jonah Jenkins, Witness were the perfect mixture of rock'n'roll, metal and hardcore. Plenty of bands-- especially in today's metalcore/deathcore-heavy "scene"-- claim to do similar things. But one listen to Prone Mortal Form reveals these Masshholes knew how creatively meld Sabbath stomp, Megadeth-tight rhythms, swingin' two-steps, incredible vocals and pastoral interludes into a sound that was the basis for one of the most underrated records in underground music's history.

Any other barker could've shouted over the beefy-but-nuanced music churned out by Eric Stevenson, Chris Crowley and Craig Silverman. It would've been a good hardcore record. But what sends OLW to the top is undoubtedly the talent of singer Jonah Jenkins, whose singing never sacrifices melody for all-out intensity or vice versa. His voice doesn't need a good cop/bad cop dynamic-- it's just one grizzled, badass cop who knows how to meld both styles together.

Coupled with the soaring power of Jenkins' vocals are the words he uses it to sing. Cryptic, narrative and often a tad verbose, many of the song lyrics are based on The Beast of War, a film about a Gulf-era Russian tank stuck behind enemy lines in the desert. Others such as "Voice of Disrepair" concern life experiences like an encounter with a crazed homeless man ("We grew to reek of martyrdom/and mutual misanthropy") or the beauty of Jenkins' then-girlfriend ("Darkened shroud of morning/Simplified in face and stature/Blessed in the storming/Sweetness of a subtle feature,") in the wall-crumbling finale of "December." Altogether, the whole record teems with catchy riffs, tight musicianship, and an inherent sense of intelligence questioning the darkness surrounding every song theme.

This band and album can appeal to damn near anyone. Thanks to our buddy Lo-Res Viscera for posting this in the first place a long time ago.

Buy here in a set with OLW's second record for five bucks!
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