If you never got to experience the brilliance that was While She Sleeps’ You Are We album in 2017, then now is the time to re-discover it. There is no way to say it any plainer than You Are We is one of the finest metalcore albums to ever be released… if you’ve got a friend who isn’t too sure whether they will like the genre give them this and they’ll be as hooked as a junkie is to smack.
So why is HEAVY Mag looking at a re-release, well this isn’t just some ordinary ‘hey let’s re-release the album to make some more dough from it’ ploy from a record label – this is a new version of a must have album for fans of the genre… a special edition that gives music lovers an unique look into how an album evolves when it is being put together.
Demo versions of ‘Civil Isolation’ and ‘Feel’ show a clear evolution to what the tracks sounded like before they made their way onto the album while the stripped back versions of the tracks reveal something more organic that is going to be lapped up by fans and newcomers to the band alike. Tracks like Lost Ideas show fans what might of been if the album was longer in the first place. It is a sensational track that was very unlucky not to have made it on the album in the first place.
Even being able to go back and listen to the regular tracks again is a highlight, re-discovering this album is an absolute must. You Are We is an album where there is simply no such thing as a weak track – it is pure metalcore perfection. This was an album where a band got everything right – from tracks with brilliant messages that will live on forever like ‘Empire Of Silence’ through to tracks like ‘Wide Awake’ and ‘In Another Now’ which are some of the most perfect metalcore tracks that you are ever likely to hear. Then there are tracks like ‘You Are We’, ‘Revolt’ and ‘Civil Isolation’ which showcased the vocal stylings of Loz Taylor… and that is almost forgetting his anguished screams on ‘Steal The Sun.’
Often I don’t see the point of a re-release, but with You Are We the special edition has somehow increased on perfection. With an already five star album made even better by never before heard tracks this is an album that needs to be on your shelf right now.
