In the late 2010s, Fit For An Autopsy began to transcend the boundaries of deathcore. While still allegiant to rampant breakdowns and big, beefy roars, the New Jersey mob also dabbled in clean singing. Their guitar chops reached prog metal levels of technicality, and some of their shout-along hooks felt more akin to Lamb Of God than they did, say, Thy Art Is Murder.
On The Nothing That Is, Fit For An Autopsy don’t add as many new ingredients to their sonic salad as they have on prior releases. What they have done, however, is zero in even further on what has made their material turn so many heads.
These 10 new songs are even more melodic and intricate, while still packing more punch than Muhammed Ali in his prime. Hostage signals their intentions from the off. Though the single opens with a three-guitar-strong wall of chords, it builds on that sturdy foundation with whirlwinds of six-string tapping. Frontman Joe Badolato leans on his melodic vocals to an unprecedented degree, cutting through the musical density with attention-demanding wails of ‘Heavy is the sound of sorrow!’
Later, Savior Of None / Ashes Of All kickstarts with a mighty yet tasteful melodeath riff. Red Horizon takes the album’s harshest deathcore moment – a bowel-squashing breakdown with the mosh call ‘Bodies burned so bright that God closed His eyes!’ – then transforms that battle cry into an arena-worthy refrain. The title track takes that ball and runs with it when it offers the most delectable chorus of this band’s career thus far.
The Nothing That Is isn’t exactly a reinvention. Instead, it’s a band evolving their most listenable form, without compromising the knucklehead force required by their scene. Fit For An Autopsy are fit for the big time.
The Nothing That Is is out October 24 via Nuclear Blast.
