Album Review: In Fear – All Is. All Shall Be (Year Of The Rat Records)

In Fear following a difficult change of vocalist – are here with their first full length contribution. Boasting an impressive amount of support from Radio One, Knotfest and Metal Hammer they are proving themselves as a band to keep an eye on.

All Is. All Shall Be, starts with Shoreline, a minute and a half intro which sets up the second track beautifully. Instantly blaring heavy disjointed noise which is, rather strangely, wonderful to my ears. It’s supremely heavy in all the right ways, it seems lazy to compare them to Loathe, but I hear the influence very heavily here. Haydn’s vocals shine through the sheer turbulence of this track. It doesn’t calm down here, “Purest Fire” opens itself up with an almost djent-esque effort.

Third track “The Blinding White” opens WITH A BREAKDOWN. This is absurdist metalcore at its finest. This song is a series of fast jabs to the temple, its chorus is fantastic and wildly catchy.

Slowing down the pace from those previously faster songs is “Rest.” A genuinely wonderful and heartfelt track – it tugs on the heartstrings and manages to be disciplined but, it doesn’t lose out on the weight that you expect from an In Fear track. It’s over too soon, and I wish there was more of such a incredible track.

Moving onto “Wither” this track is immediately chilling. Those low tuned guitars absolutely gleam through here, the mix is wonderful. Next is “Remember Me” , an astonishingly beautiful ambient track which fits perfectly at the halfway mark of this album.

“Virtue & Regret” gets the hair on my arms rising immediately, an immediate sharp hit. This track is heavy in all the right ways and ridiculously heavy, it manages to be incoherent and jumbled whilst also being engineered and composed in such a beautiful way. There are touches of hardcore, deathcore, metalcore here. This is genre bending if I’ve ever seen it. This track is sensational.

“Trace My Skin” has a difficult bar to jump, and it gives a very good go! Immediately roaring out with some blast beats. It brings that heaviness that you come to expect, each chug of that, I’ve got to assume baritone, feels like a punch to the head. It’s piercingly heavy. Following very quickly behind is “Doom Sequence.” This song is rapidly terrifying, the heaviness here is to be feared. This song will have pits up and down the country moving left to right. Listen to In Fear. If you have the time, listen to them. Every single song sets a new bar for itself.

“Abyss” is a song I remember very clearly from the singles they dropped, this is one to get your two step out for. Every time you think it’s going to let up a little – it simply doesn’t. The first minute and 13 seconds are, what can only be described, as blisteringly huge. Truth be told, I’m running out of words to describe what they’re doing here. I can’t even put into words exactly what it is. I thought the fatigue of listening to a 14 song metalcore-adjacent album would be setting in by now, but I’m still excited and ready for more. “Narrow Gate” instantly provides exactly what I want. It’s technically adverse and much more ‘metalcore-esque’ compared to some of the other tracks. A good track in amongst an album of absolute bangers, Narrow Gate struggles to cut through the noise personally.

The penultimate track “Cessation” is here, and it’s weird, in a good way mind you. The chugs are quick paced and it’s a hefty track. Its breakdown is absurdly heavy, and the vocals here shine through so, so well.

The final track “All Shall Be” is finally here – 13 tracks down and we are at the end. It immediately sparks goosebumps, it’s exactly what you come to expect from In Fear at this point. God knows I’m In Fear of those moshpits once I see some of these songs played. This song is what I can only describe as an ‘angelic wall of noise.’ Huge, eerie choruses echo and ripple out. This is outstanding music.

There’s only so much I can say, this album is strange, staggering, groovy, whatever other words you can find in a thesaurus. All in all this is a hauntingly memorable album – it’s going to be ringing off the walls of my house for months to come. Listen to In Fear, and this album. I promise it is worth it.

In Fear – All Is. All Shall Be Full Tracklisting
Shoreline
All Is
Purest Fire
The Blinding White
Rest
Wither
Remember Me
Virtue & Regret
Trace My Skin
Doom Sequence
Abyss
Narrow Gate
Cessation
All Shall Be

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