For Atlanta-based heavyweights Left To Suffer, fitting neatly into one musical category has never been particularly appealing. Blending elements of deathcore, metalcore, nu-metal and hardcore, the band have built their identity around refusing to stay in one lane. But with their latest album, Unwelcome Guest, the group have made a deliberate return to the heavier foundations that first defined them. Speaking with HEAVY, vocalist Taylor Barber explains that after spending the past few years experimenting with different sounds, the band wanted to reconnect with their core identity.
“We did so many kind of experimental albums over the past couple of years that we wanted to come back to our roots and have a come-to-form album,” he explains. That direction became clear surprisingly quickly, with one of the first tracks written for the record, ‘Gun In The Duffel Bag‘, helping establish the blueprint for everything that followed. “We wrote like a song a day for two weeks, and it just came so easily,” Barber says. “We were just so mentally ready for this album.”
With 11 tracks showcasing Barber’s formidable vocal range, from crushing gutturals to piercing high-register screams, Unwelcome Guest is an unapologetic display of what Left To Suffer do best. Rather than deliberately pushing himself into unfamiliar territory, Barber approached the record by drawing on techniques he had developed throughout the band’s previous releases. “I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses,” he says. “I was like, okay, well, I’m going to take all of my best vocal registers from all these albums that we’ve written, and I’m just going to do what I’m best at for this whole record.”
The album’s title also carries a particularly personal meaning for the vocalist. Having moved between different musical territories throughout their career, Left To Suffer have often found themselves occupying an unusual position within the metal scene. “We’ve always felt like the oddball,” Barber explains. “We can go on a metalcore tour, we could go on a deathcore tour, we could go on a death metal tour, and we still fit. But we still feel like the unwelcome guest in the room.”
That willingness to embrace different influences comes naturally to the band, particularly given their shared appreciation for music outside traditional metal. Growing up in Atlanta, rap played a significant role in shaping their musical tastes, with those influences eventually finding their way into the band’s heavier sound. “We’re just a hodgepodge of all of our different tastes in music,” Barber says.
But beyond the aggression and technicality, Barber sees music as something far more personal. Rather than simply writing songs designed to trigger a mosh pit, he approaches songwriting as an emotional outlet. “I want to write stuff that people can attach to emotionally,” he explains. “I use it as my catharsis, as my emotional output.” That philosophy also informs his appreciation for the growing number of vocal breakdowns and reaction videos appearing across social media. Rather than viewing the technical analysis as an intrusion, Barber believes it can help educate aspiring vocalists about the mechanics of extreme vocals. He particularly hopes younger musicians can learn how to approach the techniques safely rather than damaging their voices by attempting to imitate sounds they don’t yet understand.
Away from the music, Barber is equally unapologetic about ignoring online criticism, admitting that other people’s opinions aren’t something he loses sleep over. In fact, he even wrote a song titled STFU for the new album in response to that very subject. And while he’s already developing the concept for Left To Suffer‘s next record, Barber is keen to take Unwelcome Guest as far as possible before moving into the next chapter.
With a relentless creative drive, an album that embraces everything that makes Left To Suffer different, and a vocalist who seems to have no intention of slowing down, being the unwelcome guest has never sounded quite so inviting.
