SELF HELL

The 2024 album of the year has finally arrived... NOT!

In all seriousness though, this album could have been a lot worse. Three out of four singles completely missed the mark for me, so it didn't look promising. But the album itself actually has its moments, which I wasn't prepared to say before the release.

While She Sleeps tried to reinvent their sound here. They have mostly sounded the same right up to "SLEEPS SOCIETY." Where they managed to sound fresh and still keep what makes them who they are. I don't mind bands trying to do something new, and pioneering a new direction. Metalcore hasn't seen any development in the last few years, and records like this could make it sound a little bit more interesting.

The album "SELF HELL" is an Alternative Metal/Metalcore record with some Nu Metal elements. The problem here is the way it is executed. I will even go so far as to say that some of it feels both cold and uninspired. I miss the emotion you get in "TO THE FLOWERS" throughout the rest of the record. The lyrics here can also get so bad that it makes parts of the album close to unlistenable. I can't stand "LEAVE ME ALONE" simply because of the lyrics in the chorus. They also experiment with electronic elements which feel cheesy and unnecessary. And for some reason, three of the tracks are instrumentals. They didn't even bother to transition "PEACE OF MIND" to "LEAVE ME ALONE".

But I gotta say, there are some solid tracks hidden here. "RAINBOWS" is a track that captures their new sound and blends in with their good old metalcore sound. It also has an amazing guitar solo. And "WILDFIRE" gives me that exact feeling. "TO THE FLOWERS" is both beautiful and painful. That track has grown on me a lot since its release, and it's personally my favorite from the whole album. All these get a lot out of Sean, and I don't mind that at all. Had all of the tracks been as good as these three, I wouldn't have had any issue with it at all.

"SELF HELL" has moments ranging from horrible to pretty good. Overall, it feels like a band trying to change their sound without knowing how to do it. In total this record is both cold and uninspired in some areas, and simply goofy in others. Don't get me wrong. I won't say it's a bad album. I would even say that it is pretty enjoyable at times. But it's sadly nothing more than that. Who knows? With proper execution, maybe this could come across as an album-of-the-year contender.

FAVOURITES: TO THE FLOWERS, RAINBOWS, WILDFIRE
LEAST FAVOURITES: SELF HELL, LEAVE ME ALONE, DOWN
(excluding instrumentals)