“Only the dead know the end, may we meet again.”
It’s been an unbelievably fast (almost) three years since Fit For An Autopsy’s last LP, Oh What The Future Holds, landed back in the earliest weeks of 2022. The record landed firmly on our top albums of the year list, after a glowing review from myself shortly before its release, and becoming a staple of my listening throughout that year. I largely stand with my thoughts on that LP (though perhaps the score was a tad hyperbolic), as I believe Oh What The Future Holds to now be a staple of the genre; a modern classic. Still though, it’s almost unfathomable how quick these three years have come and gone, and with that time passed has come a new effort from the kings of deathcore in 2024’s The Nothing That Is.
Following up such a monumental record was never going to be an easy task, but upon hearing opening number (and lead single) “Hostage”, the intention within The Nothing That Is was laid bare: we’re going bigger. This rings true through multiple facets of Fit For An Autopsy now-steadily expanding sound. Whilst the heightened melodicism of Oh What The Future Holds is presented here in perhaps even greater presence than that record, The Nothing That Is seeks to blend that aspect with perhaps the most pertinent within the genre – hitting harder than ever before.
For all of the melodicism present in Oh What The Future Holds, it’s still hard to argue Fit For An Autopsy’s position as a hard-as-nails deathcore outfit (much unlike what their detractors may purport), and that point is driven home in spades on The Nothing That Is. Make no mistake, for all of its melodic frills, this is a heavy album – potentially the heaviest the band have penned with Joe Bad at the helm to date. This isn’t just mindless heaviness either, there’s intention here. There’s a concerted push and pull between the more relatively subdued aspects and the blistering aggression that provides masterful contrast here, and they strike that incredibly hard balance with ease through their now laser-focused songwriting chops.
Aforementioned opener “Hostage” is perhaps one of the brightest shining examples of the impressive balance Fit For An Autopsy seek to strike across The Nothing That Is. Entering with unrelenting force, “Hostage” carves a wanton path of sonic destruction for its opening minute, setting a face-melting pace and intention from the get-go. However, its quick pivot to the track’s masterful chorus, replete with some of the best clean vocals I’ve heard on this side of the heavy spectrum, alongside some truly excellent leads. This ebb and flow is carried from the track’s start to its end, as it bobs and weaves through what logically should be conflicting notions of their sound, yet instead weaves a dense tapestry that feels intentioned from end to end.
Following cut “Spoils of the Horde” similarly seems to demonstrate the band’s masterful grasp on songwriting, as it effortlessly darts between some of the most absurdly heavy notions of Fit For An Autopsy’s sound to date, alongside even more of that brilliant melodicism. Some may argue the melodic aspects of these tracks detracts from each one’s relative heaviness, but to me, these moments of push and pull provide a sense of heft and impact to the heavier moments that few bands execute quite as well as Fit For An Autopsy. Of course, the band’s penchant for a one-liner breakdown in demonstrated here, as Bad growls “fucking thieves” before the track’s planetary downtempo break obliterates the listener’s speakers.
This approach is further explored in following cuts “Savior of None/Ashes of All” and “Red Horizon”, with some of the best riffing I’ve heard all year being bookended by a truly otherworldly sense of atmosphere. However, the track that bridges them, “Weaker Wolves”, represents something a bit more straightforward, and there’s beauty in that simplicity. The track’s constant frenzy of riffs, alongside its Kublai Khan-esque break toward the track’s mid-point, provide less relative contrast and breadth than much of the record, and more so offers up a groove-laden, rough ‘n’ ready, stank-facing metalcore rager for you to gurn at.
Around the album’s midpoint, we’re met with its title track, “The Nothing That Is”. Feeling like a new-school take on the Fit For An Autopsy sound of old, the record’s titular cut combines notions of their classic sound in its unmistakable riffwork and blinding aggro, with the keen melodicism and atmosphere that serves as the centrepiece for what makes this album tick. This is certainly Fit For An Autopsy, but, perhaps in an even further heightened sense than what has come in the record’s first half, “The Nothing That Is” feels like the most intentioned modernisation of what a classic Fit For An Autopsy song is at its core.
We’re met with some true highlights as we enter the album’s final stretch, with recent single and late-album cut “Lower Purpose” demonstrating that they’ve not lost a single shred of their hard-as-nails past selves. With serious grooves; wonky, harmonised riffing; and a potent level of aggression behind it, if there’s any indicator you need that Fit For An Autopsy are under no illusion as to what band they are, then “Lower Purpose” is it. This is certainly true of following track, “Lust For the Severed Head” too, but perhaps executed with a different approach. With some of the most mind-melting guitar work on the whole record, edging more into the tech-metal realm than anything else, the track’s true eye-widening moments come in its death metal influence. This is particularly evident in Bad, whose fierce, Corpsegrinder-esque gutturals caused an involuntary gurn to stay permanently on my face throughout the track’s bridge.
Closing number “The Silver Sun” caps off the The Nothing That Is in style, seeking to exemplify the very ethos of this record down to its core. Bigger in every regard, this six-minute goliath of a closer sees Fit For An Autopsy more overtly explore not only the prog-inspired aspects of their sound that permeate both this and Oh What The Future Holds, but pertinently the fury; the primal; the groovy. This closing epic is a demonstration of what Fit For An Autopsy seek to achieve with The Nothing That Is, and it’s a testament to their strength as songwriters that they were able to pull off such a ridiculously strong and diverse track, that truly feels deserving of holding this album’s final moments.
So, how exactly do you follow up such a monumental record; one that has, at least in my eyes, become a staple of the genre since its release? Fit For An Autopsy’s answer is loud and clear: do everything bigger. The Nothing That Is sees the deathcore veterans achieving new heights of creative synergy through their willingness to experiment with newer and more challenging sounds, all the while honing in on what made so many people fall in love with them in the first place – their masterful grasp on brutality, groove, and riffwriting. I am unsure on how we can possibly get bigger than this, but I’m certain in a few years, Fit For An Autopsy will have the answer.
9/10
The Nothing That Is is due for release this Friday, October 25th via Nuclear Blast, and you can find pre-orders for the record here.