ALBUM REVIEW: Unwelcome Guest – Left To Suffer
The new LEFT TO SUFFER album doesn’t look half as fun as it is. Boasting some of the bleakest cover art this side of a Francisco Goya gallery, Unwelcome Guest promises to be a harrowing trip into a nightmarish and unforgiving world. Instead, it’s preposterously macho deathcore with some grin-inducing hooks and heaps of swagger. It takes WHITECHAPEL-style pummelling and adds in a hefty sprinkling of hip hop beats to create some genuinely enjoyable (and stupidly heavy) party-metal, and a few more serious moments that hit harder because of the contrast.
It’s loud and obnoxious, but it’s also very well executed, and you can’t help wondering if LEFT TO SUFFER might be subtly taking the piss out of themselves. Calling the first song Track One is a not-so-subtle hint that they’re aware of how ridiculous things will get, and boy howdy, does Unwelcome Guest go places. Gun In The Duffel Bag is the sound of EMMURE overdosing on testosterone pills, while STFU is a massive raised middle finger pointed squarely at their online detractors. It starts with an audio clip of a commentator slagging them off and quickly turns the negative feedback into a hook-laden, bouncing mosh anthem. Reacting to mean Twitter remarks could all too easily come across as insecure moaning (hi Ronnie), but LEFT TO SUFFER infuse it with humour and it’s a blast.
404 meanwhile is built around a lyric that is pure shade-throwing, and it winds up being so catchy, it could even become a nightclub favourite. And the energetic Therapy is a cathartic blast of extremity that can lift heavier than you. It’s not so much a song as a circle pit in waiting.
For all the shameless entertainment though, Unwelcome Guest still has darker moments. The title track was inspired by guitarist Peter Higgs’ military service and is nastier than any of the floor-detonators that have come beforehand. The following Honor Amongst Thieves is uncompromising, straight-down-the-line deathcore, and Unrequited Dread is the musical equivalent of being beaten up for the second time in a single day.
What’s impressive however, is that despite taking a more vicious approach at the halfway point of the album, Unwelcome Guest remains a cohesive work. There’s an abundance of light-hearted fun in here, yet when they steer into more tumultuous waters, LEFT TO SUFFER still sound like themselves. This not deathcore going through an identity crisis, but a group who recognise that not every song has to have the same vibe. That’s why the more melodic and atmospheric Bleeding Out can sit alongside nu-metal-tinged deathcore and intensely emotional songs about PTSD without feeling out of place.
Even with a variable mood though, Unwelcome Guest remains a memorable and highly entertaining slice of modern core. The majority of the run time is dedicated to pit-igniting, fist-swinging energy, and the “get some” attitude makes it very endearing. This is deathcore with trousers that tilts its cap to one side and spits bars on its day off, but it’s also not afraid to be vulnerable in public. LEFT TO SUFFER are ace.
Rating: 8/10
Unwelcome Guest is set for release on October 9th via Hopeless Records.
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