Life in Vacuum's 5 was one of the best things I heard in 2014 - a perfect substitute for Comadre (RIP). While that album was more mathy, airy and upbeat, this time they take a graver tone on things, writing about sociopolitical issues back home in Ukraine where their roots lie, from a perspective of comfort (somewhat) from the band's home since migration in Canada. It matches up pretty ideally with another politpunk band in Joliette, which hails from Puebla, Mexico, and who are so good at their hardcore punk approach, I can see Donald Trump headbanging his wig out to them.

LIV adopts a darker, slower and more gloomy approach on things with "Let Us Through" and "New Blood" which tells of upheaval and uprising not just limited to the confines of places like Kiev or other major cities in Ukraine, but also to the struggles of the poor as well as the borderlands. These sync up well with the start-stop post-hardcore approach on "Black Snow" which ramps things up, splicing so many aspects of prog/post-punk in which fans of Drive Like Jehu and At The Drive In could relate to. Like I said, if you love Comadre's brand of experimental screamo, then this is for you. The last two songs off the split are Mexican post-hardcore/screamo gold with bits on Envy sprinkled here and there on "Serenata", similar to what The Saddest Landscape does vocal-wise, and a much more unrestrained hardcore-punk jam in "no es In A Gadda Da Vida". Both are technically sound, echoing what LIV do, and offering a great sample of a bright future ahead. Full-lengths, please...