“If you say there’s beauty in losing control, then why do I collapse?”
Growing up in the 2000s, my first exposures to metal were a mixed bag of things. Understandably, as that era was a hotbed for different subgenres within the space emerging and finding mainstream recognition, as well as trends of the era (such as nu-metal) coming to the end of the chokehold they held on heavy music. Of course, through the influence of my parents I encountered early heavy metal, such as Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin, but as I developed my own taste – be that through recommendations of friends, or (more likely) the soundtracks of video games of the era – I soon found what truly made me tick. Whilst I didn’t quite know how to classify such a thing until much later in my life, looking back there was certainly a thread that connected many of my favourite groups at the time – the metalcore sound.
First discovering the sound with bands such as All That Remains, Chimaira, Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, and early Lamb of God, at the age of just eight years old I quickly became enamoured with so many of these bands. I would often boot up the likes of Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 and Guitar Hero just to hear many of these songs, and to this day many of them remain all-time favourites of mine. I weave this narrative because it’s clear I wasn’t the only one entranced by the genre in my early years – if anything, the re-emergence of that ‘classic’ metalcore style has demonstrated that it had a stronger lasting impact than many of the subgenres that emerged in that era.
One such band that caught my attention in that space a few years back was Dying Wish, a Portland-based noughties-core outfit that embodied so much of what I loved about the genre when I was young. With riffs that transported me back to hearing tracks off of Killswitch Engage’s The End of Heartache for the first time all over again, I was hooked. Now, a few years on with their sophomore LP, Symptoms of Survival, Dying Wish further explore their nostalgic sound, and hammer home wholly that they are firmly in the upper echelon of band’s attempting to revive and replicate this style.
Opening with a fierce display of intent, the album’s title track “Symptoms of Survival” enters the fold replete with fury, bounce and aptly percussive chugging in equal measure. The track ushers in a smattering of melodicism that serves to act as a ‘calm before the storm’ of sorts before the track’s primal, groovy breakdown, backed by the same eerie guitars that precede it. It’s an attention-grabbing first taste of the sound present on Symptoms of Survival, and whilst its fade-out ending feels like a moderately ineffectual ending to an otherwise intentioned and direct track, it remains a strong opening as a whole, but perhaps falling short of the title track moniker.
Soon after, we’re thrust headfirst into the album’s riffy and wildly impressive one-two punch of “Watch My Promise Die” and “Starved” – which truthfully feel like a more apt display of what Symptoms of Survival have to offer. Intricate and nostalgic guitar work, gorgeous choruses, haunting melodicism, and, perhaps most importantly, earth-shattering breakdowns. The way in which these two tracks seamlessly interlink, and further lead into following track “Prey For Me”, whilst maintaining an impressive sense of impact and intention between them, provides a sense of flow that so many albums fail to capitalise on or consider. Only bolstered by each track harbouring their own sense of identity within Dying Wish’s overarching sound, these three concise and snappy tracks display not only the band, but the genre at some of its best, and most well-constructed.
Jumping ahead to “Paved In Sorrow”, we’re treated to an almost wholly juxtaposing side of Dying Wish’s sound. Screamed vocals take a backseat to mournful, serene singing for much of the track’s runtime; and the obliteratingly heavy breakdowns and frenzied riffs are stripped away in favour of a more tastefully reserved backing. Perhaps the closest Symptoms of Survival comes to an outright rock ballad, Emma Boster’s killer voice and the track’s underlying nostalgic sound maintains a strong sense of identity, and provides a few short minutes of reprieve from the album’s intense sonic palette.
That sense of mournful serenity is soon swept away, however, as “Tongues of Lead” wastes no time in establishing its monstrous presence. A piercing scream, accompanied by chugging dissonance open this barnburner track. The unsettling atmosphere established early on returns here, but this time as a hauntingly black metal-adjacent backing to a brutal blast beat section. One of Symptoms of Survival’s most unrelenting tracks yet, “Tongues of Lead” stands as one of the album’s utmost highlights, and provides a hilarious sense of contrast from the track that precedes it.
From here on, Symptoms of Survival rarely lets up until its very conclusion. “Kiss of Judas” provides one of the album’s most belligerent moments in its final breakdown, as Boster yells “bitch!” right as the final section commences in a beautiful haze of obliterating violence. “Hell’s Final Blessing” proves similarly aggressive, as its pacey percussion and hyper-speed riffing masterfully pave the way before the track’s oppressively noisy final moments. Lead single “Torn From Your Silhouette” feels relatively more reserved, with the first implementation of clean vocals since “Paved In Sorrow”, yet it maintains a, now familiar, sense of unrelenting fury in its heavy moments.
After such a hefty stretch of violent metalcore ragers, closing out Symptoms of Survival effectively, whilst still maintaining the energy and impact present on its preceding tracks must have been quite the task. However, with “Lost in the Fall”, the band stick the landing with perhaps Dying Wish’s most memorable and diverse song. Containing not only the album’s most fantastically executed chorus, but further providing one of its most visceral and primal breakdowns in the first minute of its run, “Lost in the Fall” has quickly become one of my favourite metalcore songs of the year. As the track’s back half drops out the intensity in favour for a sombre and utterly ethereal piano-led bridge leading up to its final chorus, Dying Wish demonstrate their strength and comfort outside of the confines of their typical sound, and execute perhaps their most structurally risky song yet with confidence and power.
As I hear many of the stylistic choices across Symptoms of Survival, particularly in its guitar work, it’s hard not to smile and I’m transported back to my early days of discovering and learning about metalcore as a kid. Providing not only an overwhelming sense of nostalgia in so many facets of their songwriting, but a modernisation and recontextualization of what made that era so great, by a group of musicians that clearly feel passionate about it, I can’t help but laud what Dying Wish have achieved here. An incredibly strong foray into the classic metalcore sound, much like their 2021 debut, Symptoms of Survival is an absolute essential for any and all 20-and-30-something fuckers who yearn for the days of the genre’s ‘golden age’.
9/10
Symptoms of Survival is due for release Friday, November 3rd via Sharptone, and you can find pre-orders for the record here.