Spiritbox have seemingly been effortlessly surfing the a crest of a wave since their debut album Eternal Blue blew up back in 2021, and have enjoyed a whirlwind couple of years since hitting millions of streams and views on Spotify and YouTube, while playing some huge festival shows and hitting the road with the likes of Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Ghost and Bring Me The Horizon.
Their popularity undoubtedly comes with the huge crossover appeal they deliver as the band eloquently blend a ferocious Metalcore style with a thoroughly more ethereal approach to alternative metal, highlighted by the contrasting styles of vocalist Courtney LaPlante.
And on The Fear Of Fear (Rise Records / Pale Chord Records), the band deliver a pure continuation of the winning formula laid down on their debut record, fully tapping into both sides of their personality once again.
The EP provides six new songs, and opens with “Cellar Door” which drops with an absolutely vicious groove and will instantly appeal to those who gravitate towards the heavier side of their sound, where LaPlante delivers her lyrics with a relentless rage on par with the likes of “Holy Roller” from Eternal Blue. In fact this is unquestionably a place as dark and heavy as they’ve ever journeyed before.
“Jaded” ebbs and flows briefly with a melodic guitar and synth on the intro before dropping in again hard with a heavy riff, although this time LaPlante’s clean singing provides an air of euphoria.
The chorus blends her singing with screaming, providing an immense big-room Architects-esque vibe on a stunner of a song which sits comfortably with the likes of “Circle With Me” in terms of its commercial appeal.
“Angel Eyes” is another track in which Spiritbox deliver unadulterated aggression with a heavy and polyrhythmic Djent flavour to the guitars, with the vocals once again channelling pure rage.
But what also stands out is the use of Electronica in both the intro and outro, which is another key weapon in the arsenal of the Spiritbox sound.
The rest of the EP very much caters to those who enjoy the more ariose style they convey, with the blissful “Too Close / Too Late” providing beautiful clean singing over a pulsating bassline and another epic chorus.
“The Void,” heavy in the groove, manages to also be uplifting with trance-like twinkling synths in places and an electronic Drum-and-Bass style influence to the percussive rhythm, while “Ultraviolet” is stripped back in the verse with a Techno/House beat and synth pads providing a deep and mesmerising experience, a solid riff once again pounds in the chorus.
So we really do get a little bit of everything on The Fear Of Fear as Spiritbox journey from heavy as hell to dreamy, while tapping into a real range of everything in between…and it’s an eclectic approach that will continue to work wonders for them.
Buy the album here:
8 / 10
ABSTRAKT_SOUL