“I will make it through the struggle and I’ll meet you at the end.”
Every day it seems that more and more bands are moving away from their heavier roots in favor of more melodic territory. For Scottish outfit To Kill Achilles, their evolution in sound was marked by the release of their 2021 record Something to Remember Me By following the group’s signing to Arising Empire. The move into melodic and post-hardcore territories proved to be an effective match for the elevated storytelling and lyricism of the emotionally heavy hitting album, whose narrative ultimately ends with the narrator taking his own life. But despite the dismal ending to their last record, To Kill Achilles are determined to pick things up again with their upcoming full-length release Recovery.
It is an oft-repeated adage that the first of the twelve steps to addiction recovery is admitting you have a problem. More than just having to acknowledge an issue before it can be properly dealt with, however, the first step is also about being honest with one’s self and finally looking past the denial that so often goes hand-in-hand with substance abuse. Opening track “…and I’m an Addict”—the title of which is a reference to how people introduce themselves at recovery meetings—leads with an energetic foot forward as vocalist Mark Tindal navigates the highs and lows of addiction, including the self-loathing that comes with it. There is no denial here as the track is effectively topped off by an impassioned stream of consciousness verse in the back half of the track which sees Tindal caught in the cycle of substance abuse before finally deciding that enough is enough. ”Wake up, regret, pass out, repeat, no more.”
One of the key elements of Recovery that sets it apart from previous releases in To Kill Achilles’ discography is the introduction of singing from drummer Kieran Smith. While his clean vocals were used as more of an accent behind Tindal’s vocals in the album’s opener, follow-up track “Chemical Counterpart” sees Smith’s vocals fully utilized in the song’s chorus. If the punchy “…and I’m an Addict” represents the first step in addiction recovery, then the atmospheric “Chemical Counterpart” represents the second step, where acknowledgement and acceptance of the issues at hand lead to the hope and belief that, just maybe, recovery can be possible. Smith’s delivery of the chorus is solemn resignation and hopeful self-assurance all-in-one, with his moving vocals providing a complementary contrast to Tindal’s gritty shouts amidst the track’s melancholic soundscape.
To Kill Achilles greatest strength as exemplified on both their previous record and on Recovery is their raw, emotional songwriting that delves deep into the well of human emotion. Despite the title of the record and the focus on substance abuse in the first two tracks, Recovery encompasses far more than just addiction recovery. From a letter to one’s younger self (“Fifteen Years”), to confronting physical abuse (“When the Lights Go Off”), navigating grief and loss (“Blue”, “Living in a Memory”), and the prejudices faced by the LGBTQ+ community (“No Love is a Crime”), a number of weighty topics find coverage across the record’s runtime, albeit to varying degrees of impact.
Much like “Chemical Counterpart”, tracks “Blue” and “Living in a Memory” operate within evocative soundscapes crafted in large part by guitarist Shaun Lawrence and bassist Matt TIppett. Smith’s clean vocals continue to add to the emotional weight of Recovery on “Blue”, a track about the loss of a child. “Living in a Memory” provides one of the more interesting soundscapes on the record with a number of layers to be picked apart beneath TIndal’s anguished vocals as he laments the loss of an old friend. On a sonic level, “Fifteen Years” is possibly the brightest To Kill Achilles has ever sounded, with its opening instrumentation sounding closer to indie and alt-rock than anything else on Recovery, and its proud, hopeful lyricism offering a sharp contrast to the rest of the group’s discography.
“When the Lights Go Off” and “Ghost Town” prove to be the sonically heaviest tracks on Recovery’s tracklist. Whereas the former track’s ire is befitting its subject matter confronting abuse, the latter’s impact is lessened by its bemoaning of cell phone usage and social media culture. While there’s much to be said on both subjects and their effects on human interaction in the modern world, the topics seem trivial and out of place in comparison to the rest of the subjects covered on the record. Additionally, its placement in the tracklist following lead single “Rats”—a track denouncing conformity for the sake of fitting in—creates a lackluster patch in the ending stages of the album. A redeeming quality of “Ghost Town” is its mean, yet short-lived, ending breakdown that leaves you wanting more before the whiplash-inducing transition into final pre-release single and penultimate track “The Cave”.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is a tried-and-true classical reference but its appropriation here helps form one of the most interesting cuts on the album. Subtle, pulsing electronics, twinkling guitars, and an almost spoken-word flow from Tindal create an effective slow build before the song reaches full bloom in its back half, with Tindal and Smith’s soaring vocals begging for comfort and assurance from the outside world. “The Cave” ends on an optimistic note, with Tindal promising to find his way out of the dark so long as there is someone waiting for him on the other side.
Last in the tracklisting, but certainly not least, lies “Recovery”, the emotional behemoth of a title track. The six minute long closer sees Tindal once again taking a long, hard look at himself, with his ardent vocals working against another lush, ambient soundscape. Whereas Recovery opened on a frantic, desperate note with “…and I’m an Addict”, the note it ends on is decidedly more hopeful than the one it started on. Tindal reflects on his journey thus far, recognizing the struggles it took to reach this point. But instead of dwelling on them or falling prey to self-loathing, he instead uses them as fuel to strengthen his resolve in continuing along the path to true recovery. While there is no shortage of emotionally charged moments across the span of Recovery, it feels like the dam truly breaks at the title track’s apex with Tindal’s resolute “well not again, ‘cause I’ve lost too many friends, so I will make it through the struggle and I’ll meet you at the end” ushering in a surprisingly devastating saxophone solo. In what feels like a coming full-circle moment, Recovery’s final minute is an acoustic confessional that draws parallels to Something to Remember Me By’s acoustic title track which also served as the closer on its album.
Despite a couple of missteps, by effectively expanding and refining their sound, To Kill Achilles have once again crafted an impactful, emotionally resonant album that is sure to tug on the heartstrings. Regardless of the number of painful topics covered across Recovery’s runtime, this record is ultimately about healing. It’s about being honest with yourself and those around you, and it’s about being willing to accept and ask for help. It’s about being hopeful that despite whatever life may throw at you, or however deep a hole you’ve dug yourself in, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The overarching message of Recovery can best be summed up by one of the many pivotal lines in its title track—”we’re so much stronger than the hurt that we feel.”
8/10
Recovery is set to release this Friday August 11th via Arising Empire. Links to pre-order the record and merchandise, as well as links to purchase tickets to To Kill Achilles’ UK album release shows, can be found here.