Austin Lucas – Alive In The Hot Zone CD (Sabotage Records / Flight 13 Records / Cornelius Chapel Records)

Austin Lucas is an American indie artist from Bloomington, Indiana. He is famous for his work with Twenty Third Chapter, The K10 Prospect, Guided Cradle, Amputation, The Bold Party, Chuck Ragan, Frank Turner, plus many more. Since 2006, he has pursued a solo career as a solo artist and released an impressive amount of full-length recordings such as The Common Gold, Putting The Hammer Down, a split LP with Chuck Ragan, Somebody Loves You, Live At The White Water Tavern, A New Home In The Old World, Stay Reckless, Between The Moon And Midwest, Immortal Americans, and No One Is Immortal. Besides full-lengths, Austin released a split 7” with Chuck Ragan, At War With Freak Folk 10”, Austin Lucas with The Takers, a split 7” with Frank Turner, a split 7” Cory Brannan, Two Songs EP 7”, The New Home Demos, Four Wheels Demo, Alone In Memphis 7”, and a split 7” release with John Moreland entitled Secret Audio Club Wax Packs. As you can notice, Austin is a prolific artist who has kept himself busy since the beginning of his career.

Today, I will talk about his latest offering to the broader auditorium named Alive In The Hot Zone. The album carries dozen of profoundly emotive indie-folk compositions that will especially suit those who’re asking for more than the simplified folk record. Besides indie-folk, you may stumble upon some complementary genres such as Americana, country, bluegrass, rockabilly, rock’n’roll, and punk rock. However, all these elements are ideally measured and combined with the dominant indie-rock aesthetics. I like how the main focus is on Austin’s voice, which chops the atmosphere with deeply soothing emotive chants. Still, his voice bursts with sheer power when necessary through equally delightful high-pitched shouts. His voice catalyzes thoughtfully written lyrics that are bursting with pure intelligence and a reasonable dosage of melancholy.

The chord progressions, harmonizations, melodies, themes, and other guitar maneuvers are doing wonders throughout the entire album. These orchestrations are surrendering equal amounts of emotions as Austin’s marvelous vocal performance. It seems that Austin thought about the overall atmosphere a lot. You may stumble upon a fair amount of both acoustic and semi-distorted compositions, but they’re equally meaningful and powerful. The rhythm section gives another dosage of massiveness and stability to the overall listening experience, so every single piece sounds like a charm during the complete recording. Austin showcases the beauty of indie-folk music, empowered by only the best affinities of Americana, country, bluegrass, rock’n’roll, rockabilly, but somewhere deep down, this album bursts with sheer punk rock energy. Alive In The Hot Zone comes on vinyl, compact disc, and all streaming services. Head over to Sabotage Records, Flight 13 Records, or Cornelius Chapel Records for more info about ordering.