Album Review

Boysetsfire – while a nation sleeps…

• 6th Jul 2013

If you think you’ve heard of Boysetsfire before, you probably have. Twenty years deep into their career, one reunion tour down, two new members and a whole lot of blood sweat and tears, this band are the phoenix rising from the post-hardcore ashes. In their own words they’ve “lived through the tyranny of rap rock” and were around “before the internet” so it’s no surprise that a band who have spent two decades honing their sound have hit the nail squarely on the head with a big bucket of riffs on their new album while a nation sleeps…

There’s a delicious smorgasbord of musical references drawn from on the release, as the Hatebreed crush of Heads Will Roll rubs shoulders with towering, droney Tool riffs and the bizarre time signatures and alien melodies of System Of A Down. The album is littered with movie samples, a time honoured tradition on the post-hardcore circuit that Boysetsfire seem intent on keeping alive, and slices of dialogue from Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece The Dictator actually resonate and add a welcome weight to the message of the music.

Many of the verses are musically quite sparse, giving Nathan Gray’s poignant lyrics and rasped vocals room to breathe before a breezeblock chorus drops two tonnes of guitar and some killer harmonies and screams courtesy of Chad Istvan and Josh Latshaw. Less discerning members of a younger audience might find the Boysetsfire sound and formula a little date, but for fans of the original genre there’s plenty of diversity to enjoy on nation sleeps… and there’s even a devastating industrial thrash stomp thrown up on Everything Went Black that proves this band are far from over, though they do drop a clanger on the synth driven miss of Save Yourself.

There’s definitely life in the old dog yet, and he’s even got a few new tricks – a triumphant return for the Newark/Delaware sextet who will hopefully be making a trip to the UK soon to give these behemoths an airing in a venue near you.

Venue: while a nation sleeps…
Support Band: End Hits Records