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Fall Against Fate

If Not For Ourselves EP

Written by: PP on 04/11/2011 04:31:26

If your hometown reads Watford, UK, it is commonplace for the vocalist to possess a fervent in-your-face styled scream that feels more like an ear-piercing battery of sheer will-power than anything subdued or melodic. That is also the case with Fall Against Fate, whose brooding take on technical metalcore takes its cues from fellow countrymen Architects, Against The Flood, While She Sleeps, Heart In Hand, and many others who are currently spearheading the second coming of metalcore in Britain. Essentially, their new EP "If Not For Ourselves" displays the band as prodigies to the aforementioned well-respected metalcore bands, for so similar it is to the sound currently prevalent in the English underground.

The good news is that Fall Against Fate are better than your average metalcore unit. Matt Greiner of August Burns Red agrees, stating that they "do what every other band in the Technical Metal genre tries to do… just much better, this stuff is so heavy, it sounds great". Though he might be exaggerating a little, there's no question that songs like "Galleon" and "Le Corps" are great (modern) tech metal pieces with solid and varied riffing. But most of all, the vocals are brilliant throughout the EP. While somewhat monotonous on first listen, they grow on the listener thanks to their extreme aggression levels and the particularly throaty and ear-piercing style they are delivered in. There's lots of melodic contrast with high-end lingering guitars during the chorus passages as well, ensuring the listener isn't battered deaf by the end of the EP, and "Le Corps" even introduces UnderOATH inspired choral backing to provide more variety. Many riffs also seem Meshuggah influenced given their tendency to visit the curvy and angular 'djent' style, which we've also seen as a rising new trend recently.

The album's best song, however, is the one that sounds least like the rest of the songs on the EP. While tracks one to six specialize in Architects style furious tech metalcore, "So Real" introduces elements of post-hardcore and plenty of melody with lengthy clean passages. The song is so well written that although the rest of the EP is also good, it is in songs like this one where Fall Against Fate have a future. The problem with the rest of the material isn't so much the quality of the songs - which is rock solid throughout - rather than how much they blend in with the other couple of thousand metalcore bands playing this exact style right now. Either way, "If Not For Ourselves" is yet another promising metalcore effort from the surging British scene.

Download: Galleon, Le Corps, So Real
For the fans of: Architects, Against The Flood, Heart In Hand, While She Sleeps
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 05.09.2011
Self-Released