The Deathconsciousness album by Have A Nice Life is definitely one of those albums that takes a couple of listens to truly understand. The majority of songs take a few plays to enjoy, but I have realised this album only gets better the more you listen to it. To put it simply, deathconsciousness is being aware of the inevitability and meaninglessness of death. Over the past year, I have become increasingly more aware of what it truly means to die, and I have been unable to stop thinking about it.
I discovered this album around the beginning of my freshman year, in late 2023. I really enjoyed the first song of the album, “A Quick One Before The Eternal Worm Devours Connecticut,” which has a really weird, long name. After listening to the entire album, I realised how great this album represented deathconsciousness. One word to describe it is dreadful. Being deathconscious is, in my opinion, awful. I became extremely paranoid, and I became terrified of even being near death. This album has a lot of factors to it that make you experience these emotions. For one, in most of the songs, there is this really strong drum that takes over your mind. It really ruins the song until you actually think about why the drum is there. I think it’s supposed to represent how thinking about death can really take over your life at times. Another aspect of this album is the melancholic vocals and instrumentals. I think these aspects really tie into the feelings I experience when thinking about death, as well as listening to this album.
My favorite songs from Deathconsciousness are “Earthmover,” “HFS: 40000,” and “The Big Gloom.” All of these songs are extremely unique and different from each other.
“The Big Gloom” is one of those pretty dreadful songs. The instrumentals on this song are extremely sad, but they’re perfect. The vocals really tie this whole song together. I love it a lot. “HFS: 40000” is definitely the most unique song on the album. It has this silly, techy beat at the beginning, which really throws you off when you’re listening to the full album. It’s a great song, especially on its own, due to the great vocals and interesting instrumentals. “Earthmover” is the last song on the album, and it is a great closer. It is quite long, but the gradual buildup to the drop is heavenly. I also really enjoy the vocals at the beginning.
The way this ties into being deathconscious is quite interesting. For me, when I think about dying, I get this insane feeling of being stuck in a loop, and I sometimes end up having a panic attack. I think the concept of not being conscious for eternity really terrifies me. I love being able to experience life around me, and I love being able to know what’s going on around the world. I really don’t want to lose that ability one day. This album is supposed to represent the feelings someone may experience while thinking about dying. In my opinion, the instruments they use and the effects implemented into the songs do a great job of representing deathconsciousness.
Overall, I believe this album is awesome at executing the feeling of dreadfulness, especially the kind that you feel while really thinking about dying. It’s an amazing album to listen to fully at least once in your life.
