The Metal Resource – mauce.nl

Those Who Fear are a brutal American hardcore band signed to Facedown Records. They explored the darker side of faith and ideology on their debut ‘Unholy Anger’ (2013). This is their furious sophomore album ‘Death Sentence’ (2014) where TWF tackle yet more weighty personal and societal issues. Their sound has been stated as “a more aggressive interpretation of the east coast hardcore sound”. On this release you can hear their progression due to the addition of new drummer Jacob Wilder and the return of engineer Josh Schroeder (Random Awesome).

After the intro, they launch into ‘Bruised’ with crunching hardcore riffs and gruff vocals “Back when I was bruised and young / Naive was my middle name / I would never care about anything / But now those times are gone”. The tracks are short and brutal as you are whisked into ‘Bear These Scars’ and on to ‘Ego Trip’ (featuring Ryan Kirby of Fit For A King) where the technical skills of their new drummer come to the fore.

At this point the momentum has peaked and they introduce some distracted background dissonance in ‘The Pain I Feel’ whilst contemplating being trapped by your own mind. “Help me free me from myself / I have built my own prison / Help me tear down these walls that keep me here”. There is a similar background sound that runs through ‘The First Amendment’ and parts of ‘Saturday Night Special’.

Then we reach another peak as ‘Cop Out’ features the second guest spot with Nick Arthur of Molotov Solution. This moves between leaden drumming, heavy bass and brief sections of introspection. It also spits out the challenge “Does it help you sleep at night when you lie to yourself / Does it make you feel any better even when you know you’re wrong”. Following this with the ‘Eyes Of Eternity’ as they look beyond this world to an unseen potential.

There is a nu metal intro to ‘Death Sentence’ that could remind you of Korn, before the brutality descends along with an equally harsh message. “We’re all going to die / This life is terminal / We’re all going to die / Born into a death sentence”.

For those unfamiliar with the American term 86’d, it usually refers to killing or executing people (taking them 80 miles out and putting them 6 feet under). In the disposable nature of relationships it reminds you not to leave your friends behind. There are two bonus tracks ‘We’re Not The Victims’ and finishing with their longest track, the 6 minute epic ‘Indifferent’.

There is not much variety in the tracks which has led to comments such as “The lyrics are stronger than the music”. But that depends upon whether you are a fan of consistent brutality, gruffly snarled vocals and chugging guitars. Therefore it would appeal to fans of A Plea For Purging.

Rating: 7/10

Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby

Track listing:
1. Processed
2. Bruised
3. Bear These Scars
4. Ego Trip (Feat. Ryan Kirby of Fit For A King)
5. The Pain I Feel
6. The First Amendment
7. Saturday Night Special
8. Cop Out (Feat. Nick Arthur of Molotov Solution)
9. Eyes of Eternity
10. Death Sentence
11. 86′d
12. We’re Not the Victims
13. Indifferent

Line-up:
John Healy – Lead Vocals
Luke Healy – Guitar
Trevor Kope – Guitar
Jacob Wilder – Drums

Albums:
“Unholy Anger” (2013) [review]
“Death Sentence” (2014)

Weblinks: Facebook / Myspace / Twitter

Record Label: Facedown Records, June 2014

Lyric video ‘Bruised’