Sleeping With Sirens are kind of a big deal. Back with the follow-up to 2017’s Pop Rock exploration, Gossip, the band are heavier than ever on How It Feels To Be Lost, which marks their Sumerian Records debut. The hard rocking begins on Friday, September 6, 2019.
Fronted by one of the most distinctive voices on the scene today, Sleeping With Sirens formed in 2009 and have steadily been taking over the world. The Gold-certified quartet made their debut in 2010 with With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear before going on to deliver two albums to the Top 15 of the Billboard Top 200—2013’s Feel and 2015’s Madness. Call them Metalcore, Post-Hardcore, or whatever you like, their sound is working for their constantly-growing fanbase and the band have global album sales in excess of 1.5 million, over half-a-billion streams, and two million monthly listeners on Spotify alone.
Continuing to smudge the boundaries of Rock, Pop, Punk, Metal, Electronica, and beyond, Sleeping With Sirens—Vocalist Kellin Quinn, Guitarists Jack Fowler and Nick Martin, and Bassist Justin Hills—are poised to present their sixth studio album, How It Feels To Be Lost. Sadly, this marks the final record for Drummer Gabe Barham, who just recently announced his departure from the group. Produced by Matt Good (Asking Alexandria, The Word Alive) and Zakk Cervini (All Time Low, Yungblood), the 11-song collection sees the band returning to their more aggressive roots yet still embracing all the distinct facets of their eclectic personality as artists.
How It Feels To Be Lost opens into “Leave It All Behind,” an explosion of infectious, hard rocking that promises that Sleeping With Sirens are back with a vengeance. Next, ominous atmospherics pulsate to introduce “Never Enough,” an age-old lament that we never appreciate what we have until it has disappeared. A clear-cut commentary on where the band’s collective thoughts were at going into this record, the track features a guest spot from the always exceptional Benji Madden of Good Charlotte.
Titular “How It Feels To Be Lost” initially goes thick with electronic atmospherics, building into the full band as Quinn confesses frustrations that so many of us share as we attempt to tread water in our (seemingly) hopelessly dire situations. To counter this, thick, throbbing rhythms dip down and get gritty for the self-explanatory “Agree To Disagree.”
The lush soundscape of somber “Ghost” weaves a haunting tale that questions our very existence. An epic, sweeping showstopper, this leads into the experimental, undulating Hip-Hop lines that pave the way for the dirgey “Blood Lines.” Now, if you are sitting on the edge of your seat awaiting Sleeping With Sirens re-embracing their heaviest side, prepare to be blown away! Barham’s percussion shines, leading his bandmates into the frantically-paced banger “Break Me Down.” A heavy rocker with Punk attitude, this is guaranteed to incite anthemic sing-alongs at the band’s live shows.
Going for a more melodic approach, they implore you to hold on through “Another Nightmare,” while Hills’ bass anchors the slamming “P.S. Missing You.” The catchy, blistering spiral of “Medicine (Devil In My Head)” demands your attention from its first second, building energy that leads to a fever pitch. With this, they bring the album to a close with the powerful “Dying To Believe.” A blatantly honest baring of their emotional scars, the initially acoustic track invites listeners to let it all go and try to be free. A reminder that we are all struggling to believe, to put one foot forward, Sleeping With Sirens close out their sixth album with a warm embrace that promises fans that it’s okay to never stop searching.
Sleeping With Sirens are a band that straddle the line comfortably between heaviness and infectiousness, at times inspiring headbanging and at others so catchy that you can’t help but dance. Not afraid to set fire to the box, How It Feels To Be Lost perfectly balances the disparate sides of the band’s personality, while offering insights that are inspired by struggles and hardships of the past few years. In this, one might say that this is a mental health record, though in truth it is much more. Frustrated but hopeful, agreeing to disagree, Sleeping With Sirens have delivered a truly impressive collection that is guaranteed to earn them new fans. For this, Cryptic Rock give How It Feels To Be Lost 5 of 5 stars.
){kind=link}
No comment