THE L.I.F.E. PROJECT, the formidable musical partnership of Grammy nominated Stone Sour guitarist, Josh Rand and co-songwriter & vocalist Casandra Carson, have dropped their debut, self-titled EP today. The 5 track collection can be streamed in-full here with signed editions of CD and vinyl formats available exclusively through the bands webstore here and via Nuclear Blast’s’ stores here.
In celebration of the release, the duo have also released a lyric video for their track Purgatory.
Speaking about the release of his latest musical endeavour, Josh Rand tells us,
“Words cannot express how gratifying it is to put this EP out at this stage in my career. To get to this point, it’s been a long road with many ups and downs over the course of the last year and a half. For me, this EP represents a vision. A standard in quality and a journey about never compromising ones art.
Writing Purgatory’, I knew that I wanted to create something that sounded epic. I felt the best way to approach that was to write at a slower tempo to be able to fatten up the sonics of all the instruments and to write the song in harmonic minor.”
Casandra Carson adds,
“I’m so excited to finally unleash this EP to the world! I’m so proud of what Josh and I have created together and built over the past year, and so thankful that I had the opportunity to be a part of this project.
The lyrics I wrote for Purgatory are about that internal push and pull when a person is in a toxic relationship, and how it’s sometimes hard to let go and just walk away even when they know it’s the right thing to do.”
Purgatory is the fourth single to be released from the EP and follows previous singles, A World On Fire, Ignite and the band’s debut release, The Nothingness, was featured on major playlists across streaming platforms on release, including Spotify’s Rock Hard, Breaking Metal on Apple Music, Amazon’s Break Through Rock and Metal Radar on Deezer.
Nurturing the project from concept to execution, the instrumentation on ‘The L.I.F.E. Project EP’ was written, arranged, recorded and produced by Rand in his home studio and mixed by Josh Wilbur (Korn, Megadeth, Lamb of God, Parkway Drive). Completing the collaborative effort with the addition of Carson, The L.I.F.E. Project presents an important milestone in an already decorated career for Rand, one that was punctuated with the addition of a one-of-a-kind vocal lead that understood how to compliment the music with her lyrical pen. The resulting introduction of The L.I.F.E. Project is this five-track EP that offers a complete presentation of a songwriter asserting his stride after more than two decades steeped in his craft. Building off the sonic stamp he established during his six albums, twenty-year tenure with Stone Sour, Rand’s current iteration holds true to his track record, without relying on it, all while penning a new chapter in his artistic anthology.
Stylistically, The L.I.F.E. Project is a fluid combination of classic metal sensibility and Rand’s penchant for pushing the boundaries of contemporary heavy. From the ethereal, cinematic soundscape of the piano-latent ballad in Worthwhile, to the sonic sledgehammer of A World On Fire, the broad spectrum resonates as especially impressive. Between Rand’s instrumental framework, accentuated by Carson’s ability to articulate poignant stanzas, The L.I.F.E. Project remains a passion project culminating in perfect collaboration.
