Metalcore is a style of music that will likely always have appeal, and always have avid listeners, but few in the genre can land a knockout at the start. Bristol UK metalcore scene newcomers In Fear have wound up and clocked quite the sucker punch to the noses of the dubious and unsuspecting.

 

Early 2019 saw the group’s first undertaking, an EP called Solace, which garnished a decent following and the notability to head out on tour, perform at fests, and saw them rack up over 750,000 streams on Spotify. With that success, In Fear regrouped and got serious in the studio for their full-length album debut.

The quintet decidedly led with an unusual approach to build hype around their freshman album, All Is. All Shall Be (Year of the Rat Records). ‘Abyss’ was the first song released in support of it, which dropped early December 2022. The whine of a guitar bleeds into an immediate whirlwind of expeditious drumming, bursty guitars, and brutal, unclean vocals that range from mid-level screams to animalistic, guttural lows.

 

Two weeks later, another single was sent forth, ‘Cessation’. Atmospheric vocal melodies launch the track and the trance is broken with a screamed “Cessation!” Another two weeks pass and ‘Purest Fire’ is released, which showcases the powerful clean vocal talent that is weft between the screams.

 

This bi-weekly single release pattern has kept up while leading to the album’s release, leaving only three new songs left to be discovered on the fourteen-track record. The album’s delicate and solemn yet brief unreleased opening track ‘Shoreline’ bleeds into ‘All Is’, a brutal shake from its predecessor. Just a few songs later reveal the other new tracks. The assault of ‘Wither’, which is directly followed by the selenic yet eerie instrumental track ‘Remember Me’. It serves as a calm resting point that subtly builds before resuming the onslaught with ‘Virtue and Regret’ as it melds hauntingly melodic clean vocals with banshee-like screams.

 

In Fear faced no fear and cannon-balled straight into the deep end to deliver over forty-five minutes of inhibited talent and heft, never allowing longer than a moment or two for one to come up for air before the incursion pursued. They will be supporting the album release at various upcoming fests like UK Tech Fest, Wounded Fest, and Burn It Down Fest. Oh, and here’s a couple tissues for that bloody nose.

 

Buy the album here:

https://infear.bandcamp.com/album/all-is-all-shall-be-full-album

7 / 10

JESSIE FRARY