While She Sleeps End Year with 'DOWN' Feat. Alex Taylor of MALEVOLENCE
At the start of the year While She Sleeps let the word slip they had been working on new material for their 6th studio album and future music. As all the greats do, they took their time, went dark and focused on what was important. 7 months went by with no trace of the northerners, when September came around ready for the leaves to drop, the lads were also waiting to drop something of their own.Premiere single & title track 'SELF HELL' astounded the Sleepy fan base with its psychedelic synths, whaa-ry guitar effects, and funky drum grooves. One thing that really stuck out for this song was the spiritually, stellar vocals. The distorted, nonchalant attitude cleans felt like they were constantly putting hallucinogenic goggles on your face and spinning you round and round in a glow in the dark paint room. Absolutely feeling the Gorillaz vibe to their mix created a tough compound for their sound and added a lower, deeper tone to the heavier instrumentals. After huge hype on the songs release, their audiences were very eagerly awaiting for the next tune, unknowing that yet again the music was taking another turn, and as usual, did not disappoint.
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A full moon rises as night begins to take over, the Sheffield locals lock & barricade their doors in preparation for the legendary onslaught they hope to survive. Sirens blister and bass pounds through the ground as the unknown draws closer, then, silence. Head of the Steel City savages Lawrence Taylor lets out a roaring scream to descend the song into its immediate disarraying, momentous feel. Guitars smash their way slowly through the crowd with an angsty punk chord riff, to warm-up your swinging arms, before the drums kick in half way through the first verse with a more aggressive, flowy beat to pick the riff back up off the mosh pit floor. A throw your hands up chorus with good versatility between smooth cleans and the immediate adjustment to the harsh, gravely strains really peaks the melody of the song to a high point, especially with the hectic chorus lead slapping cheeky licks and harmonics like there’s no tomorrow. Wrapping back around to the intro stabs to reinstate the surrounding darkness, and adding an extended chorus with a rougher vocal style does well to draw out that caged, wanting to break out feeling buried in your mind.Out of the chorus you’re provided with a constant feed of slams along the track, so I hope still you’ve got some room left for the whopper of a feature Alex Taylor brings to the table. Joining the fun with While She Sleeps near the end of the massacre, his feral lows become more crushing on your chest as he screams “destroy me while you have the chance” and gains momentum turning more brutal and feral towards his last breathe on the song.
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Overall it’s been a big year for our mates over in While She Sleeps. Creating and keeping under wraps their sixth studio album, not to mention the tours with dotted shows around the UK & Europe this autumn, a huge string of festivals & sideshows across Australia and Asia to end off the year. As well as a North American Tour already planned with Architects and Of Mice & Men for May 2024, which is going to kick off so hard! Two tracks drops within 2-3 months of each other is awfully telling that the SELF HELL album release is getting to its end phase. Bring on the next tune lads, we are ready to go wild!
Words by Ed Atlas (@YourFavouriteMerchGuy)
Pre-order/save SELF HELL here
While She Sleeps - SELF HELL tracklisting
1. PEACE OF MIND2. LEAVE ME ALONE3. RAINBOWS4. SELF HELL5. WILDFIRE6. NO FEELINGS IS FINAL7. DOPESICK8. DOWN feat. Malevolence9. TO THE FLOWERS10. OUT OF THE BLUE11. ENEMY MENTALITY12. RADICAL HATRED / RADICAL LOVE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa0hJ3Kp8tk
