Let In Life

I remember the first time that I saw Sam Black Church live. It was kind of a "what the fuck?" moment. The band was a blur of distortion, and the singer was an absolute fucking maniac on the stage. I didn't know what to make of them at the time, and for a while my friends and I wrote them off as a joke...but the more I saw them absolutely destroy live when they would open for Slapshot, and the more I heard their songs, the more I started to appreciate the band.

I feel like if you didn't see Sam Black Church at The Channel in Boston around 1990, then you will never really appreciate them. I don't think that you could be a part of the Boston scene at that time and not be mesmerized by the presence of this band.

I bought the Unincorporated 7 inch as a new kid to the scene, and was stoked to get the three song Infernal Machine cassette when it was released in 1991...but by the time the Let In Life LP was released in 1993, I was starting to immerse myself in the more emo stuff like Current and Junction, or the 90's Hardcore stuff like Snapcase and Unbroken. Sam Black Church was old news by that time, and I was feeling a bit too pretentious to really spend much time with the CD when I bought it, so it soon was just collecting dust on my shelf.

A few years ago, I found myself surprised when I took the CD for a spin. Those songs were a blast, and I got a real kick out of hearing them again. While shopping in Boston recently, I discovered this copy of Let In Life in the bins...still sealed, and goddamn cheap. Oh, hell yes.