Single Slam – Silence Speaks feat. Oli Sykes by While She Sleeps (You Are We)

Sheffield based While She Sleeps have released their 4th single from their upcoming album. That single, Silence Speaks, premiered on the 22nd of February on BBC Radio 1 and features guest vocals from Oli Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon. The new album, You Are We, is due out on the 21st of April this year and is going to be huge.

The quality of the singles released from You Are We so far is nothing short of astonishing. Check out our reviews of Civil Isolation, Hurricane and title track You Are We but, more importantly, check out the songs. This is metal that has just levelled up.

The band have been on quite a journey since their debut, The North Stands for Nothing, in 2010. They have grown in popularity and ability and have garnered an army of die hard fans on the way. While She Sleeps work hard for their return and that resonates with fans. A good example of their hard work and relationship with their fans is the Pledge Music campaign ran to get You Are We off the ground. The band took the decision to become independent. They, on their own, converted a warehouse into a studio and living accommodation. They personally made items for sale along with preorders of the new album for the pledge campaign. Genuinely I don’t think I have ever seen a more appealing list of items for sale in a campaign. Seriously, check it out here. It’s a collectors and fans dream.

On top of all of those nice touches, they also pulled off the most important bit. They released mind bogglingly good music as singles from the new album. The fans jumped on board and they smashed their target with ease. It is still growing today too which is great to see.

With all this goodness, how will Silence Speaks live up to the rest of the tracks released so far? I mean, surely if you set a bar as high as these guys do, it is inevitable you will fall short at some point right? I mean, now matter how golden your touch is, eventually you have to release a song that isn’t quite as good as your previous one. Surely.

Silence Speaks is just under 5 minutes long and was released with a video that can be seen by following the link below. It is a fast song, especially lyrically. Vocals are literally spat out at breakneck speed while utilising their amazing gift of harmonising clean and harsh vocals. It sounds very much like While She Sleeps. They are very recognisable in their own sound but it never feels stale. It is an exciting, fresh sound.

The drumming is great throughout with loads of fast rhythms sounding like stampeding horses coming from the ends of Adam Savages sticks. There are neat guitar riffs and leads throughout though it feels like a vocals focused track. There are building verses that feel like they will explode into a crazy breakdown but instead they lead into a well sung, melodic chorus.

Oli Sykes comes in just after the half way mark and a lot of people will be pleased to know he is shouting, not singing. He and Lawrence Taylor sound great shouting in tandem. They lead into a quiet guitar melody that is joined by some softly sung vocals from the whole band. These vocals lead into an excellent solo from the talented Sean Long and then into a chorus to end which again showcases the brilliantly sung and perfectly timed clean and harsh harmonies the band should have a trademark on.

So, once again While She Sleeps have released a fantastic metal song and in terms of the new album that is 4 bangers in a row. With the quality of music While She Sleeps release you almost end up just needing to decide if you absolutely adored it or only loved it. On first listen, I wasn’t entirely taken with it. A few more listens down and I am now. It isn’t the best of the 4 tracks so far. It is bloody good though.

I personally don’t think Silence Speaks is as good as the releases from You Are We so far. I also don’t think that is a bad thing. The standards the band have set on themselves and other musicians with their consistent quality is unreal. This song is brilliant but, I just didn’t find it quite as brilliant as the others. This band, and all the singles so far, including Silence Speaks, are special and You Are We is going to blow all our minds on April 21st.

Check the song out for yourself here and hit up the pledge campaign to preorder the new album and pick up some awesome merchandise. Check out While She Sleeps on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and be sure to like and follow their pages.

Have a look at our article here regarding While She Sleeps Tour dates in support of You Are We in the UK to pick up tickets.