Release Date: September 17, 2021 Genre: Post-Hardcore, Rock Label: Fearless Records
The Plot In You, a metalcore/hard rock/post-hardcore band based out of Hancock County, Ohio, will release their anticipated fifth studio record, Swan Song, on September 17th with Fearless Records. The band is trying to up the scale from the band's last critical mass record, DISPOSE, out in 2018. They went ahead again with Drew Fulk, who produced their last record -and has worked with notable people from the music industry including, Lil Peep, As I lay Dying, Dance Gavin Dance, Ice Nine Kills, and Motionless In White, to name a few. Swan Song, to me, feels like a big step up for production compared to DISPOSE, but will it withstand up to its successor?
The album starts with "Letters To A Dead Friend," with not much a good start with what you hear in the metalcore industry music-wise. The song didn't really give me that punch you would hear in a song from The Plot In You. It felt more of an interlude than an intro. "Fall Again" actually gave something you wanted to hear from the guys. The hard bass with some great electronics, hard drums, and gritty vocals from Landon -the band's vocalist- it turned out good.
"Face Me," the first single from the record, had some really nice guitar riffs, with a nice little sound clip to spice up the song as you hear in some rock/metal band's music nowadays. The song did have some nice screams from Landon that I quite enjoyed. It's a good song. "Too Far Gone," to me personally, felt like a chill, arena rock song from the band but still has those nice screams feeling like a metal song, but it's actually not. This song also is one you really notice the band playing a lot with the electronics and production in the music. I like when bands tend to experiment with the sound, and this is one of those times. If you want a song that very much has drums, then you'll love "Paradigm." You really hear those drums with some nice screams from Landon and nice guitar riffs. It's an OK track along with "Both To Blame."
"Both To Blame" was another OK track, nothing too crazy the band was doing. It had some nice ambiance, with I believe a female vocalist and played a lot with those electronics. The track did well with balancing the cleans and screams from Landon, for sure. "Too Heavy," I enjoyed it a lot. The track felt like "Face Me," but a bit more punch to it. Everything was balanced -great, vocals, instruments, ambiance, production. I liked the track a lot. But if I had to say my favourite track on the record, it would have to be "Enemy." "Enemy" to me is the new sound you hear from The Plot In You. Great vocals, dirty guitar riffs you would love, the screams, and the band playing around with the headphone effect. By far, The Plot In You made probably one of my favourite metal tracks of the year with "Enemy."
"Whole Without Me" felt all over the place, but it felt just right. Like one moment you hear screams, then next there's cleans- it's weird, but it works. It also finished off with a nice simple breakdown at the end of the song, which you got to appreciate. Finally, it all comes down to the final track, "Freed." This track is also like the first track. It doesn't do it for me. Felt like it was lacking something, just no punch to the song. Possibly it was the vocals, but I really have no idea how the band could better that track.
The Plot In You put together a great piece with Swan Song. It's for sure heavier than DISPOSE and has some of those good tracks. It's for sure a lot better production standpoint -which I love that, and they needed that. But my only concern is that will it withstand over years and years of plays, or will The Plot In You have to go back to the drawing board and try to compete again with DISPOSE? I hope the band can fix some of those lacking punchy songs for the next record and keep this amazing production sound.
