While She Sleeps – “You Are We” [Album Review]

You Are We is a massive album in the career of Sheffield metalcore favourites While She Sleeps. Having been nipping at the ankles of bigger things for most of their career to date, You Are We sees them taking the brave move of attempting to kick down some stubborn doors without the backing of a record label.

Whether this brave move pays off depends entirely on whether or not the metal scene is welcoming to the shift in direction the band have taken on You Are We. Don’t worry, it’s not as dramatic a change as compared to say the one Suicide Silence took but there are plenty of moments on You Are We where While She Sleeps have stepped outside expectations and tried something a little different such as cleaner vocals or melodic passages on tracks like “Wide Awake”.

Hardcore WSS fans need not fret though, as there are still plenty of moments like “Steal The Sun”, for example, where the Sheffield metallers drop in the kind of frantic riffing that was used a-plenty on their previous offering Brainwashed. Full of stand-out moments like the blistering “Feel”, You Are We also sees the band putting their differences aside to team up with fellow Yorkshireman Oli Sykes from Bring Me The Horizon on “Silence Speaks”, another banger of a track.

You Are We is an album where While She Sleeps have taken chances. So, whether it’s the calmer moments of the album or the introduction of Loz’ cleaner singer style that will ruffle feathers among a fanbase who are more used to pit-bangers like “Brainwashed” remains to be seen. Either way,You Are We needed to be a big album and, by spreading their wings and taking a chance or two, it’s hard to deny that the end result is exactly the album that While She Sleeps needed to deliver.

You Are We Track Listing:

01. You Are We
02. Steal The Sun
03. Feel
04. Empire Of Silence
05. Wide Awake
06. Silence Speaks
07. Settle Down Society
08. Hurricane
09. Revolt
10. Civil Isolation
11. In Another Now

Run Time: 50:58
Release Date: April 21, 2017

Check out the track “Feel”