While She Sleeps

You Are We

Written by: PP on 24/08/2017 21:37:19

It's a difficult task sounding original in today's metalcore scene with especially US-based bands offering little, if any innovation sound wise, content in delivering derivative products that sound as tired as they do generic. For some reason, the epicenter for fresh sounding bands has been Britain in recent memory. While everyone has an opinion on BMTH, it is the bands just beneath them in popularity that have driven innovation in the genre in recent years. Architects and Bury Tomorrow are great examples, and While She Sleeps has been lurking just underneath the surface for a couple of albums now. With the release of their third full-length "You Are We" they have finally taken the step into metalcore royalty and release one of the best sounding albums in the genre in the past couple of years.

Let's go back a few years to their debut EP. Back then, a young and aspiring band, they explored largely the same metalcore soundscapes as everyone else. In comparison, While She Sleeps anno 2017 is an innovative, fresh metalcore unit that appears to decry the generic, saturated gray masses of the genre by taking chances and experimenting with the very fabric of the genre. With hip-hop passages merging with arena-metal atmospherics and hard rock elements alike alongside dynamic metalcore riffs and quiet/loud moments, "You Are We" from a songwriting perspective is one of the most ambitious metalcore albums from a British band yet.

Most songs are anthemic with crystal clear production, with plenty of thought having gone into the rhythm section and especially the brilliantly placed backing vocals that add fervour and flair to the band's frankly huge soundscapes. Designed for bigger stages, the songwriting hasn't been forgotten in the process, of which "Settle Down Society" is a great example. It sounds majestic, yet contains djent-inspired rhythm section, mouth watering lead riffs, and Architects style semi-clean singing that's rough enough to appeal to genre apologists but melodic enough to gain the fan masses of new fans in due time. "In Another Now" is similarly ambitious: it sounds like an As I Lay Dying song on speed: dynamic, even thrashy lead guitars that explode into a back-chilling, atmospheric, anthemic chorus that The Ghost Inside would be proud of.

That's the beauty of "You Are We": it achieves a perfect balance between the ghastly heaviness and racy metalcore leads, and enormous atmospherics and clean vocal melodies that together with influence from other genres create one of the freshest sounding records in 2017. Ravaging screams, infectious cleans, rapid tempo shifts, and an energizing expression overall results into the metalcore highlight of the year and a career milestone album that will be difficult to top.

Download: In Another Now, Steal The Sun, Settle Down Society, Hurricane
For the fans of: Architects, Bury Tomorrow, The Ghost Inside
Listen: Facebook

Release date 21.04.2017
Sharptone Records / UNFD

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