A Way Of Life - 1997 demo

In the mid to late '90s I went to a lot of shows in Belgium. And often times Alain (Out For Blood) who ran R.P.P. Records would be there with his distro. Awesome guy, awesome label and awesome distro. He always had a large selection of demo's, typically of bands in the harder/tougher NYHC/NJHC style, what people now refer to as moshcore and beatdown. And if you're into that style, and I was/am, the demo's he carried would almost always be quality, only the good shit. So when I saw this demo at his distro at some fest in the summer of 1997, and I read they were part of the infamous K.D.S. crew from Rennes, France, I bought it instantly. K.D.S. stands for Karate Dance Style btw, the most well-known K.D.S. band was Stormcore.
After the first listen I was hooked on A Way Of Life, or A.W.O.L. for short. After the excellent and eerie intro, 'KDS In Action' shows what this band was all about, (very) metallic hardcore that alternates between up-tempo and mid-tempo parts and is extremely 'violent dance-able'. This was back when violent dancing was almost an art-form on the dance-floor around these parts, the pits were hard but people were also showing off moves. Good times! The few times I saw A.W.O.L. they did not disappoint, their guitarists especially were damn good musicians.

After this demo the band started to become more technical and more metal, but they still ruled and had their own sound. They released a 7" called 'Deep Thoughts About The End' on Braveheart Records and a split 7" with Headway (also from France) on MoshxBart Records and were on a couple of compilations. Their guitarist had plans to release an A.W.O.L. 12" but as far as I know, that unfortunately never happened. I guess the 7" and split 7" are near impossible to come by these days, so if anybody wants me to rip those, just leave a comment. In the mean time, enjoy this awesome demo. And remember: 'Religion is a lie... Move it!'.

A.W.O.L. - 1997 demo
A Way Of Life on Myspace