The band guide us through their new album, out May 05 via Year Of The Rat Records.
UK metal outfit In Fear have been dropping a series of gripping, punishing and brutal singles over the last few months in preparation for the release of new album ‘All Is. All Shall Be.’, out May 05 via Year Of The Rat records. They join Rock Sound to guide us track by track through the record, from lyrical inspirations to building guitar sounds and more.
Plus, you can exclusively hear the album early via the link below:
Shoreline
“‘Shoreline’ is the opening track for the album and it describes the start of our character’s loop, stuck in purgatory unable to escape the same cycle of events. Our character has no recollection of how they arrived where they are, or where ‘here’ is. The guitar melody was originally an idea which was part of a full song, but after the rest of the songs for the album were written we all felt that the haunting guitar part made a fitting intro to the album.”
All Is
“Lyrically this represents our character’s first encounter with evil in the hell that they’re now trapped in, an entity of darkness torments and tortures our character until they manage to escape. Hearing the outro for the first time gave me goosebumps. We spent a lot of time focusing on that part of the song, especially the vocal layers. We just really wanted to make sure the emotion came through in the music.”
Purest Fire
“This song describes our character getting captured, tied down, covered in gasoline and being burned alive. The opening riff to this song has so much groove to it, as well as an eerie horror-esque atmosphere that lingers throughout the song. This is one of our favourites to play live, mainly because of how dramatic the build up to the breakdown is. I love seeing the crowd’s reaction when it finally drops, it just never gets old.”
The Blinding White
“This was the second big single we released during the album release cycle, we’re really proud of how this song turned out considering that when it was still a demo we thought it was one of the weaker tracks for the album. After we got the first mix back from George Lever, everything changed and it quickly became one of our favourites until we decided it had to be a single. Lyrically the song conveys the moment our character begins to realise they are trapped in an endless loop, running down a white corridor full of doors all which lead them back to places they have previously visited.”
Rest
“So far this is the most streamed track from the album, which we’re extremely proud of. As a band we’d not tried to create something like ‘Rest’ before and when the opportunity came up when writing the album we knew we had to try. This is one of the softer songs from the album, but is filled with emotion. Haydn’s vocals really shine through in this, especially in the quieter moments where the vocals are the forefront.”
Wither
“‘Wither’ is a track that wasn’t released as a single before the album came out, we chose to save it until the album launch so that people had another track to enjoy afterwards. Lyrically the song focuses on our character coming to terms with their past and that they must suffer the consequences of their own actions. This song has a really cool ambient break, which focuses heavily on the vocal melodies, clean guitars and an intricate bassline. Again, this was a song which we felt was one of the weaker songs on the album when it was in its demo phase, but that changed when we had the first mix back from George Lever. Upon first listen we felt the atmosphere of the song really came into its own and the outro sounded absolutely devastating, heavier than we had imagined.”
Remember Me
“This is an ambient track which we later added to the album after all the initial demos were written and ready to be recorded. It uses melody ideas from ‘All Shall Be’ the closing track from the album. We thought it would be interesting if there were echoes, almost a premonition of the ending to our character’s story.”
Virtue & Regret
“This was one of the most ‘experimental’ tracks on the record, as we toyed with a lot of dark, distorted synth sounds which we created ourselves from scratch. But also this is probably the song with the biggest blend of soft sung melodies accompanied with really heavy parts that have intense screaming. Notably, the chorus was us trying to do something different which we hadn’t done before, using a vocal melody with a delay pattern as the hook. This song arguably has some of the grooviest riffs from the album too, with a big build up happening later in the song to reveal one of the best guitar riffs we’ve written. Lyrically the song discusses our character coming to terms with the person they’ve become, talking to the devil on their shoulder and trying to seek penance for their sins.”
Trace My Skin
“The original demo name for this song was ‘Paimon’ as it was heavily inspired by the now critically acclaimed horror film ’Hereditary’ by Ari Aster. The initial demo for this song was written back when the film first released and the atmosphere of the film just inspired so much creativity when we were coming up with ideas for the album. The song is heavily guitar focused, with a number of memorable riffs and fast chugging throughout. Lyrically, ‘Trace My Skin’ conveys our characters’ embrace with evil and succumbing to it, enabling them to commit horrendous acts.”
Doom Sequence
“This was the last big single we released for the album in the lead up to the release. It’s just unrelenting and has so many heavy moments in it that I know listeners will enjoy. Out the gate, the song comes in devastatingly heavy and doesn’t hold back throughout. We actually ended up revising this song quite late into the writing process for the record, to add the extra heavy moments on the intro and outro as we wanted to make the song even heavier than it already was. I’m very proud of how it turned out and in hindsight really glad we made those last minute changes.”
Abyss
“‘Abyss’ was the first big single we released for the album and we couldn’t wait to get it out there for people to hear. The riffs in this song are absolutely crushing, with a really dark horror inspired ambience surrounding the song. Every part of the song was written to encompass the feeling of sleep paralysis as this was the main lyrical inspiration. The fast paced riffs and high intensity sections to replicate the initial realisation and panic, the aggressive verses to represent the struggle of fighting to wake back up and the dream-like chorus as you fall back into a deep sleep, knowing it’s all about to happen again.”
Narrow Gate
“This song discusses our character’s arrival at the gates of hell, describing the scene. I love the concept of this song lyrically and how dramatic the chorus is. It’s definitely another song where we took more of an experimental approach to the songwriting, using more complex rhythms than we’ve ever attempted before during the heavy parts.”
Cessation
“One of our favourite songs to play live off of the album, if you’ve been to see us play recently then chances are you’ve heard this song. ‘Cessation’ was one of the first songs we wrote for the record and we instantly fell in love with it. The song discusses our character reflecting on being trapped in purgatory, feeling as though this is a ‘second death’. Also, this is our second most streamed song so far from the album release cycle.”
All Shall Be
“The closing track for the record, one which is filled with emotion. Our character is released from the endless loop, to finally be at peace. We knew we wanted to create a song with an overwhelming feeling of sadness but also relief, to reflect on our character’s journey and the suffering they’d endured. I think this song captures that.”
In Fear’s ‘All Is. All Shall Be.’ is out on May 05 via Year Of The Rat records.
