ALBUM REVIEW: Dispose – The Plot In You

2018 seems to be the year for innovation and breaking the mould for many in the music industry. Genre labels are breaking down, artists are changing their sound and concepts are being forged that would be unheard of ten years ago. After the release of BRING ME THE HORIZON’s That’s The Spirit the ‘metalcore’ scene essentially crumbled, with bands like WHILE SHE SLEEPS spearheading the anthemic stadium-metalcore and ARCHITECTS holding the flag for the technical and heavy tradition. Therefore, bands like THE PLOT IN YOU who carved their path on the popularity of 2011’s Fearless Records post-hardcore train are left in a tricky spot as to which direction they take.

In short, their latest offering, Dispose has both pros and cons. Whilst there are several things to be admired and praised about the record, it is hard to judge whether they outweigh the many drawbacks. Spanning ten tracks, one of which is transitionary, THE PLOT IN YOU craft an entirely new sound for themselves on Dispose. With low-fi, dissonant guitars, powerful, personal vocals, synth and atmospheric, stripped back percussion, it sounds like they would have all they need for an innovative, original and exciting record. However, what is produced is consistently uninventive, with rough and unrefined lyricism detracting from the attempt at a passionate and emotional performance.

The lead single from the record, Feel Nothing takes cues from BRING ME THE HORIZON‘s Throne, with big anthemic choruses dominated by autotuned, whilst other songs on the album are similar fare, with the sound ranging between two ends – low-fi vocal and drum verses characterised by Landon Tewers’ emotional lyricism, and the aforementioned large choruses. At one point in Paid In Full, an attempt at a breakdown is brought in, but with the lack of heavy features in other songs it seems almost forced and out of place.

In the press release for the album Tewers explains the motivation behind some of the lyrics – “Not Just Breathing is about cutting ties with someone who is dead weight in your life and dragging you down, always hoping for the best for that person but coming to terms with the fact that you need to move on with your life in a separate direction from them.” This sort of personal approach is to be admired, but in an industry with bands such as BEING AS AN OCEAN essentially defining this breakup-themed melodic hardcore, it seems hollow and generic coming from a band such as THE PLOT IN YOU.

What the band needed to do in times like these to carve their own path was not to fill into everyone else’s niches as they have done – it was to create their own. With this sort of emotion and passion behind their writing, it would have been entirely possible for Tewers and co to innovate and bring something new and powerful to the table, unfortunately what they’ve done with Dispose is water down elements of BEARTOOTH, BRING ME THE HORIZON, THE WEEKND and BEING AS AN OCEAN and release something less impactful than any of them. Their own following may be happy, but a new listener will most likely be hard pushed to find anything memorable from this offering.

Rating: 4/10

Dispose is out now via Fearless Records.

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