‘…It is not impossible to imagine the hardcore bands of tomorrow, perhaps ten or twenty years from now, pointing to this very record as their influence…’
Reviewing ‘We Are All Going To Hell‘ has proven to be one of the most difficult reviews I’ve conducted here in quite some time, for one very simple fact: there is absolutely nothing like this out there.
Manchester-based outfit Lure In have been hard at work cultivating quite a bit of attention over recent years. With a solid discography of metalcore and hardcore adjacent heaviness, and live shows that should come with a warning label for their ruthlessness, it was expected that when the time arrived for the band to release their sophomore record, it would be a thoroughly great listen. However, what the band have achieved on ‘We Are All Going To Hell‘ surpasses being just great by a wide, wide margin.
Lure In dub their sound ‘chaospop’, a term coined by Irish outfit Worn Out for a chaotic blend of sounds that pull from hardcore, noise, hyperpop, and shoegaze. Sometimes, such a moniker can be little more than a gimmick, as a band hops between some cool ideas in an exercise of genre-blending that stops short of anything truly creative. On this record, however, it truly feels as though Lure In have crafted something wholly new, conjuring up an abrasive, claustrophobic, manic sound that defies all expectation and explanation. It feels like the birth of something totally new in heavy music.
At little over eighteen minutes long, it might be easy to worry that Lure In have provided an album lacking in substance. However, thanks to the confrontational and abrasive nature of Lure In’s sound, eighteen minutes ends up being the perfect length for such a record. This album intends to obliterate the listener with its relentless walls of sound; pushing the thirty minute mark might have left the album feeling tiring or drawn-out. Instead, Lure In present a perfectly sized slice of the apocalypse that demands that, after grabbing a glass of water following all that two stepping, you immediately hit replay.
‘We Are All Going To Hell‘ leaves you with an insatiable itch for more; the sounds and musical concepts here feel wholly unique, impossible to find elsewhere. Pulsing hardcore EDM breakdowns collide with eardrum rupturing hardcore punk snares. Vocalist Cameron Wilson is right in front of you at all times, gripping your shoulders and shouting relentlessly about the rapture that is modern society. Songs morph into catchy refrains before imploding once more into cascading blast beats, relentlessly shifting shape beyond anything easily identifiable, as if the sonic equivalent of a cosmic horror. Try as you might, you cannot comprehend Lure In.
The combination of Wilson’s in-your-face screaming, like that of a preacher of the end times, and the ethereal harmonies of Sofia Sourianou makes for a jarring yet immensely memorable vocal experience. This visceral combination is particularly apparent at moments such as the lead single ‘Your Own Worth‘, which manages to be a devilishly catchy cut despite its obtuse nature, or ‘God Saves‘, with its apocalyptic chants towards the back end of the track. Wilson’s vocals morph across the record from frenetic bellowing to frenzied, searing screams, almost as if being crushed inwards by the hurtling instrumental chaos that surrounds him.
Each track near seamlessly blends into the next, giving the record almost the feeling of being one singular, grandiose song, as if it some sonic Book of Revelation. Marching snare rhythms of some doomed army filter through the cracks between ‘Your Own Worth‘ and ‘Runway Performance‘, which in turn spirals around of control and explodes into the complete panic attack that is ‘Empathy Deficiency‘; Lure In refuse to give you a singular moment to catch your breath, and in fact seem to sneer at the mere concept as they vault into catastrophic breakdowns that would make even the most battle-hardened hardcore punk weep with fear.
What must finally be commended is the fact that this is, from the ground up, a DIY record, with almost every element being crafted in-house. The recording of every instrument was recorded by the band at their homes, with the exception of the percussion; even here, the band remained local with their studio choice, working with Jake Broughton at Noiseboy Studio in Manchester. Mixing and mastering was handled by Wilson, whom has worked alongside titans Knocked Loose and rising stars Speed for their mastering needs. Everything about this record is a testament to the phenomenally creative world of DIY music, as divorced from expectations and demands of the industry as it can be.
It is difficult to truly encapsulate what Lure In have achieved on this record. ‘We Are All Going To Hell‘ is pushing the boundaries of hardcore into uncomfortable, fascinating territories, and perhaps may well be a pioneering piece of art in a future ‘chaospop’ movement. This isn’t just an album; this is a visceral, electrifying, and crushing sonic experience, the likes of which forces you to challenge all of your pre-conceived notions about not only the artist, but the genres in which they inhabit. It is not impossible to imagine the hardcore bands of tomorrow, perhaps ten or twenty years from now, pointing to this very record as their influence.
The end might be nigh, but so could be a revolutionary beginning.
RATING: 92/100 – Excellent
For Fans Of: Ho99o9, Knocked Loose, My Bloody Valentine, Death Grips, Poppy, Deathbloom
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