How often do you get the opportunity to hear a song called “Suck A Dick” on air? Hardly ever, so of course we had to play it ourselves on The Metal Experience. We found out about Haverhill, Massachusetts band Fate Worse Than Death in mid 2013 when they were promoting their then newest release The Worst Things In Life Come Free To Us.
We even had the opportunity to check them out at The Mutiny in Chicago when they came in on a small tour.
The band has had us hooked ever since we first heard them and has had us anticipating new music for quite some time. One of the perks of being an online radio show is that once in a great while we get the opportunity to preview new songs or albums before a band releases them and we got lucky enough to have had the ability to check out The Death Of Innocence before it’s July 25th, 2015 release.
The album in full touches on a variety of subjects lyrically. It’s about coming into one’s own self. It’s about not letting anyone talk down to you and realizing that you need to be your own person and stand up for yourself. It’s about not getting sucked into everyone else’s lives because you have your own to worry about. It’s about letting yourself go and being able to vent. It includes heartbreak, life, death, pain, gain and everything in between. Now some people may cringe at the use of fowl language that is used throughout the whole album as it is harsh, but this is a trademark of hardcore music, the ability to spill your emotions out in your songs and tell the world how you really feel and Fate Worse Than Death always takes it to a whole new level.
The start of the album is the self-titled intro track “Death Of Innocence”. Vocalist Ray sums up what the album is to be about with lyrics such as:
No one's worth a damn all that’s left is me. I'm alright, I'm just fine. The child inside has finally died.
Let that sink in for just a minute before the self-proclaimed Angry” metal group lives up to their genre from the start with their second track “Narcissist” (features guest vocals from Alex Aro of Shot Down Sun and Dearth), the opening lines:
Spare me your life story I don't care. Fuck your liberal arts degree and your Instagram. I don't want to hear about when you studied abroad. I don't give a shit about how you rescued a dog.
The song all together is about just being fed up. One could take it as being done with how social media has destroyed relationships or how people are just full of themselves in general. It could also be about a breakup and how you can’t seem to get rid of that person in your life because social media just brings it up all the time. Everyone can find something relate to this track in one form or another.
For those who are unfamiliar with this band, they are known for doing a lot of spoken word in their songs. It’s unique, poetic in ways and it helps set them apart. For example in their song “P.O.V Kind Of Life” Ray says:
All sarcasm aside, at the end of the day you're just a degenerate fuck And you should be ashamed. All the people that you exploit to gain fame while you get used like a fucking toilet drain. You make me sick.
How do you even respond and come back from that type of aggression if you were arguing with the person behind these words?! That’s what makes it even more metal, you can’t, because you wouldn’t know what to say because it’s just so brutal.
Fate Worse Than Death explains life the only way they know how by giving it to the listener straight, for instance, the song “There Is Much To Fear” Ray screams:
Don't take it for granted; this is it. Some shit's not worth it. It came and went and you're still breathing. Chalk it up to experience. You'll learn to live and love again. What world are you living in?
Have we all not felt heart break? Have we all felt defeated and felt like we can’t go on? Summary here is learning to move on; it’s not the end of the world.
Musically and lyrically, these guys have done it again. They brought back their sound but even heavier than before with more breakdowns and fancy guitar work. One powerful song after another the songs rage together as if starting a mosh pit in your living room. The lyrics are just as authoritative and in your face than they were in their previous 2 albums. It’s the type of music that gets your blood flowing and wanting to start a fight. This is what hardcore music is made of, and these guys keep it real. With an attitude that is all their own, Fate Worse Than Death’s Death Of Innocence is the album that we have been hoping to hear from them.
- Morgan-Daniell
Fate Worse Than Death Is:
Ray Ouellette
Tyler Morrow
Matt Morin
Scott Ferguson
Aaron Frotten
Album Recorded & Mixed by Ray Ouellette | Loadblower Studios
Mastered By Anthone Lusk-Simone | Zenbeast Audio