While She Sleeps – Self Hell (Album Review)
While She Sleeps – Self Hell
Released: March 29th, 2024
Lineup
Lawrence Taylor // Vocals
Sean Long // Guitars
Mat Welsh // Guitars
Aaron McKenzie // Bass
Adam Savage // Drums
Online
Sheffield metalcore greats While She Sleeps have always maintained an essence of being themselves. Never the band to follow trends, or actively avoid them, their music has always come across as refreshingly honest. In promoting their latest album Self Hell, the band has said they’ve reached into the depths of their musical influences and constructed a sonic collage of each member’s tastes. Have they been able to pull it off? Let’s dive in and see.
Kicking off right away with a straight-up anthemic intro track, ‘Peace of Mind’ sets the tone for what is to come. It gives us a taste of something heavy, something massive and builds into the second track, the aggressive ‘Leave Me Alone’, flawlessly. Already released as a single but for a reason. It is vicious, it is passionate and wastes no time. Along with the distorted elements though, there is an undercurrent of synths that would make bands like Linkin Park and Enter Shikari proud.
While following a fast and furious song like ‘Leave Me Alone’ with a number called ‘Rainbows‘ may seem like an odd choice, don’t let the pretty name fool you. This one still goes hard. The riff is catchy and the guitar work is a huge standout in not just this song, but across the entire album. It does try to slam a lot of sounds and effects within it. It mostly does work but at times it feels a little restrained. Like they were holding back and could’ve gone a bit more over the top. A band like While She Sleeps could definitely get away with going off the edge. Overall though, the breakdown is decent and the solo at the end absolutely rips so I could just be nitpicking.
Now it’s time for the title track and the first glimpse we got of this entire album, ‘Self Hell’. When it came out, it was received with a little bit of mixed feedback but I’ve noticed that after a few listens, fans have come around to it and why wouldn’t they? It has huge riffs, a maelstrom of synth textures and of course, that signature dynamic between heavy-as-hell vocals and beats and clean, funky grooves. And of course, we all love a good clap moment. A bit of a spoiler alert of what is to come, but this one sits so well among the rest of the album.
Upon checking my notes about ‘Wildfire’, next up on the list, the first thing I wrote was “the bass line fucks”. On every listen since, that has been my reaction straight away. Take a bow Aaron McKenzie. It is subtle, but it is groovy and fun. It’s fast and melodic. This is where While She Sleeps shines – writing music that is catchy but heavy. Music that immediately makes you want to get up and headbang. Music that you know live will have you jumping in the pit. The breakdown is not insanely heavy, but it works within the confines of the song. Oh, and there is yet ANOTHER killer solo.
Once ‘Wildfire’ has left you a little breathless, the band gives you time to recover. An interlude featuring electronic artist Aether called ‘No Feeling is Final’ is a curious, but much-appreciated inclusion. It has an interesting soundscape, that is strong enough to keep your attention but does not require you to follow every layer. This is the first of two more interlude-type tracks and the first of three features on the album.
The second feature is up next and that is ‘Dopesick’ featuring Fin Power from the UK band STONE. ‘Dopesick’ for me is one of the strongest songs on the album. It follows all the conventions of a little post-hardcore style ballad. Sucking you in with its melancholy feel and then rips into a heavy chorus. While the music gets stripped back, the vocals are unrelenting and packed with rawness. The line “I’m getting high on feeling low” is a brilliant sing-along for a chorus. Again, I cannot go without mentioning the work of guitarists Sean Long and Mat Walsh. They have pulled out all the stops on this album.
If Lawrence Taylor‘s vocals were wonderfully raw and heavy on ‘Dopesick‘, then they go up another level on ‘Down’. Not surprising though, when you have a vocal feature from Alex Taylor from Malevolence, you have got to match that energy. ‘Down‘ spends the intro, verses and bridges soaking in hardcore conventions. The chorus though still kicks back into that catchy and melodic style of metalcore that has become synonymous with the genre. Again, perhaps it’s due to Alex Taylor feature, but this is the nastiest breakdown on the album.
This album’s structure is thought out very well. It swings from chaotic and hard, to sweet and soft. Giving you chances to recover and never allowing you to lose interest. ‘To The Flowers’ is somewhat brighter, but it still has such a harsh emotive feel. The sustained breakdown is somewhat delicate. Up until this track, I hadn’t experienced any unpredictable moments but ‘To The Flowers‘ does embody that nature. It feels like it is building to a heavy breakdown, but instead, it becomes an almost breakbeat build-up by drummer Adam Savage into a guitar solo. This is the drummer’s moment though, as his fills and work give the track its unique sound.
‘Out Of The Blue’ takes the unpredictable and delicate sound of ‘To The Flowers’ and flows it into a glitchy, dreamscape-style interlude. A pleasant, atmospheric break between songs, revisiting that kind of breakbeat we heard earlier but in sample form. There is a beautiful use of vocal samples as well as the track then enters into a more robust soundscape. The use of strings and distortion up the complexity and keeps you engaged till ‘Enemy Mentality’ kicks in.
You need the break of the previous interlude because ‘Enemy Mentality‘ is a little sultry, a little sexy. A touch of angst and aggression. The second half of this album has become an Adam Savage highlight reel, making impeccable use of drums. The stripped-back verses of ‘Enemy Mentality‘ that let those fills be highlighted sit in the ear nicely. Coming in with another strong chorus that sounds strategically restrained, adding to the overall feel. Keeping you in this groove state, the bridge with the vocal sample is an excellent touch and throughout, it the guitars are singing along with Lawrence. There is a tinge of late 90’s/early 20’s grunginess, adding to the saunter. While the breakdown has a more digital style feel, it still follows the same metalcore conventions. Oh and did I mention the drums? They’re just exquisite. As it builds you can just tell it is going to be a fun climax to the track. I would go as far as to say that this is not just my favourite on the album, but it is the most experimental and risky. Did the risk pay off? Absolutely.
Now of course, in true metalcore fashion, the final hoorah has to be more in the feels. ‘Enemy Mentality‘ had layers upon layers of sound, and ‘Radical Hatred Radical Love’ strips it back a little. Undistorted guitars, soft backing samples with harmonised clean vocals – a true ending song. One thing, amongst many, that While She Sleeps does so well is instead of making the instrumentation stereotypically “heavy”, they rely on the vocals to convey the heaviness of the lyrical content. Keeping the guitars clean and the backing samples soft strengthens the emotion in the lyrics. Highlighting the words and the emotion they are drenched with.
Overall, this album is a solid release. If you enjoy metalcore and enjoy While She Sleeps, then you will appreciate what has gone into its construction. I will admit, it did take me a few listens to truly understand and experience the level of mastery that has gone into it, but I got there eventually. My only complaint is that through promotions, the idea of experimentation and pushing boundaries was hyped up. For me, I don’t necessarily think they took it far enough. While the elements of a broader influence of genres are there – I would love to see them push their sound even further with their next release.
If any band can do it, it’s While She Sleeps.
While She Sleeps – Self Hell tracklisting
1. Peace of Mind
2. Leave Me Alone
3. Rainbows
4. Self Hell
5. Wildfire
6. No Feeling is Final (feat. Aether)
7. Dopesick (feat. Fin Power)
8. Down (feat. Alex Taylor of Malevolence)
9. To The Flowers
10. Out of The Blue
11. Enemy Mentality
12. Radical Hatred Radical Love
Rating: 8/10
Self Hell is out March 29th via Spinefarm Records. Order here.
Review by Kayla Hamilton @kaylazomboid