“I’m getting high on feeling low.”
While She Sleeps has been a large act in the metalcore scene for nearly 10 years now. Their first two records, This is the Six and Brainwashed, launched them into the eyes of the greater UK-scene. It wasn’t until WSS’s third and fourth records, You Are We and So What?, that really took their recognition to the international scale. Their 2021 record Sleeps Society displayed some of their finest songwriting and some questionable choices and now the Sheffield quintet are back with their 6th full length LP titled SELF HELL. With myself being a huge fan of the group and an immense respect for their talent, I was hoping SELF HELL would see WSS deliver their magnum opus, yet it seems far from that.
SELF HELL opens with an intro track “PEACE OF MIND“, as I’m sure their intent was to hype up the record, it falls flat hard. Building, building, and suddenly losing all the tension made from the build by dropping the suspense in the last 8 seconds of the track. “LEAVE ME ALONE” starts faster with more potential, but squanders this through the abysmal lyrics over the chorus (“leave me the fuck alone, leave me the fuck alone, leave me the fuck alone, leave me the fuck alone”) which comes across as somewhat juvenile. If ”LEAVE ME ALONE” is supposed to be the ‘tone-setting‘ track for the record, it certainly sets the tone in a ham-fisted way. Luckily track three, “RAINBOWS” is the saving grace of the record, with an absolutely addictive chorus. The only thing that throws me off is the post chorus vocal effects on “rainbows, rainbows, rainbows, rainbows.” Thankfully I can look past this odd choice and let the fun instrumentation with good vocal melodies overshadow any negative aspects.
As a lead off single, “SELF HELL” was a questionable choice. I feel like the vocals could have used a major reworking, especially lyrically. The overly repetitive chorus really brings it down and seems to be a reoccurring theme on SELF HELL. “WILDFIRE” starts out promising, has a pretty decent bridge, and doesn’t really leave me with a sour sound resonating in my ears after listening. At this point, I guess that’s all that can be asked for. “NO FEELING IS FINAL” is a useless interlude that would have seen better use of a feature from Aether, especially if those 3 minutes and 13 seconds been a more fleshed out. “DOPESICK” is a surprising one, as in its not actively weak – the bridge definitely is the best moment of the song and the chorus is thankfully decent.
“DOWN” has a pretty good chorus, but can’t save the rest of the song, with each facet feeling so out of place with one another. This includes the feature from Alex Taylor of Malevolence, who at this point is a pretty common guest vocalist for the scene. “TO THE FLOWERS” does deliver one of the strongest tracks on SELF HELL and within their discography. It delivers with its melodically pleasing chorus and nifty instrumentation, with some deeply memorable lyricism: “I miss the optimist who told me I need nothing, who said the consequence was equal to the moment”. The track is then followed by another over-indulgent interlude, “OUT OF BLUE”. Three minutes of downtime is simply incorrect pacing for a record such as this.
“ENEMY MENTALITY” fails to deliver any memorable impression; the vocal melodies in this song don’t that don’t really deliver at all, even within some more creative moments from the electronics and drum grooves. “RADICAL HATRED RADICAL LOVE” exits the record on a ballad-esque sound with acoustic guitars and layered vocals, yet it lacks any gravitas that would cause SELF HELL to depart on a noteworthy point.
The idea that While She Sleeps could have deliver their magnum opus on SELF HELL was farfetched, but has proven to be beyond a pipe dream. What has been pieced together makes for more than a challenging listen at times, despite grandiose moments on “TO THE FLOWERS” and “RAINBOWS“. The dichotomy of its overproduction while trying to offer up grit and rawness doesn’t work here. Whilst there’s some exceptions, the poor lyricism and pacing also drag SELF HELL down. It’s evident While She Sleeps are looking to evolve their sound, as the metalcore they made their name on has aged, it seems it will take time for the Sheffield unit to find their footing with this latest iteration.
3/10
Self Hell by While She Sleeps is out March 29th and can be pre-ordered here.