Review Summary: The north still stands for nothing...
If anything, you have to give While She Sleeps credit. Very few bands manage to achieve the same level of momentum from just one EP, but to say that WSS are a band fuelled entirely by hype is false. This is a band who combine their love of post hardcore riffs, realist lyrics and excellent lead guitar work to create heartfelt music which actually captures the best aspect of the metal genre; passion. So if you’ve heard the debut EP The North Stands For Nothing then you may be in for a surprise. Not to say WSS have changed their style, just refined the rough edges that plagued the former release. The same principles are here, they are just presented in a much more consistent and interesting fashion. It’s certainly heavier, and my goodness have they created an album that really opens up the bands personality.
Guitar work has been dramatically improved, to the point where you may be wondering where they keep coming up with these riffs. The constantly shifting structures of the release manage to avoid the repetitive pitfalls, which kept the prior EP from really shining. But to say that the guitars are the only improvement would be foolish. Lawrence Taylor has always been one of the bands best bits, but here he soars beyond anything we have heard from him before. His lyrical work is exceptional, highlights include the brutal honesty of ‘Plague of a New Age’ and the emotional connection in ‘Our Courage Our Cancer’, the latter featuring a nice vocal throwback to bands prior release. Drums certainly feel more prominent and adventurous, combined with the more diverse song structures. However bass is a bit of a issue, not that its bad it just feels a big inaudible at times considering it varies when it decides to be heard.
Production wise TITS (come on, it had to be in there somewhere) is pretty solid. It’s a better made TNSFN style job. Which is something of a shame, while there are points where the band get to show their diversity (See ‘Seven Hills’ and ‘the Chapel’) it feels that more varied guitar tone in the rhythm section would have really helped break up the songs better and more distinguishable from one another. Apart from that there still is a lot to like here, everything sounds generally better (the beauty of a Sony record deal), but the Brilliant lead work from Sean Long steals the show every time.
So why should you even give WSS your attention? The unity. It sounds strange to say but this is band who are in sync with each other and their fans. But this is what makes While She Sleeps the most interesting band to come out of the UK metal scene in a while. The fact that they manage to create something relatable isn’t why they achieve, it’s the way they craft and album that manages to feel fun but real at the same time. Whether they can keep this consistency in later releases is another question. So if you have a spare hour and haven’t already given this a spin, give it a shot, you may even like it.
