A Life Once Lost is the latest musical inferno to blaze brightly from yet another creative spark out of the crackling ember that blackens and burns the dark underbelly of Philadelphia's extreme counterculture.

There's something in the air, in the ground, in the water perhaps, within the Northeastern United States that continually gives birth to the most progressively pulverizing metallic hardcore behemoths the world has ever known, from the erratic, calculating mathematics of Dillinger Escape Plan, the psychotic poetry of Deadguy, the slow-burn hypnosis of Isis and the self-torturing artisans in Converge.

A Life Once Lost proudly holds that banner aloft, charging forward with the brutal angst of their peers, but themselves uniquely informed by a mesmerizing combination of the cornerstone groove of Sabbath, the staccato punch of Meshuggah and the punishing vocal sensibilities of lamented Midwestern sons Coalesce.

"We've always looked up to bands that are doing things that are unique and not carbon-copied, that push limits," proclaims vocalist Robert Meadows. "We want to be in that place with those bands, right up there with them. And we feel like we can do that."

And they are about to stake their claim.

In 2005 A Life Once Lost will enter the studio to craft 'HUNTER' , their debut album for Ferret, which is sure to capitalize on the dark but urgent promise of "A Great Artist," and will grab ahold of even the cursory onlooker with artwork by the man responsible for Mastadon's album sleeves, Paul Romano.

"The whole idea behind 'HUNTER' is about going out and taking what it is that you want. It's about not settling with going to school, having a job, having a family. It's about not settling with someone else telling you you're not good enough. It's just about saying 'fuck you' and doing what you want to do," Meadows explains. "It's about going out there and taking it."

It is precisely those instincts, that hunger, that has sustained the band since they formed in 1999. Guitarists Douglas Sabolick and Robert Carpenter (who joined in 2001, when "the band became serious," according to Meadows) form A Life Once Lost's musical backbone, with drummer Justin Graves more than holding up his end since he came onboard before the recording of their best known album, "A Great Artist."

A Life Once Lost had released material through hardcore tastemakers Loudnet Records and Robotic Empire before hooking up with Converge singer Jake Bannon's Deathwish imprint, who issued the vinyl for "The Fourth Plague: Flies" in addition to their underground breakthrough. It was the strength of the "A Great Artist" recording - its size, its scope, its metallic brutality - that won the band the attention of Ferret Music's Carl Severson, who got to know the guys when he'd pass through Philly with his band, Nora.

"A Great Artist" also helped get them on the road with a number of likeminded bands, like Breather Resist, Between the Buried and Me, Throwdown, Dead To Fall and God Forbid, taking them all through North America including treks to Mexico and Canada.

When its all said and done what A Life Once Lost sounds simple, though for lesser bands, its often proven to be elusive: "I want to be remembered for never conforming to any kind of label or fashion," Meadows says flatly. "Nothing has ever slowed us down. We are a band that saw what we wanted and did what we wanted to do. We've never conformed to anything, and we'll never follow any rules."