For Today - Wake

by Alex Mumford - 6 October 2015

Released: October 2015

Label: Nuclear Blast

If you like a bit of Christian Metalcore to melt your insides, then get listening to Sioux City, Iowa’s For Today. The American five piece have been making waves in the genre since 2005 with albums such as Portraits and Fight the Silence and here is my views on their latest rendition Wake.

This is the first album under their new Label Nuclear Blast Records, a huge deal and a massive step forward for what can only be described as one of the new big guns in Metalcore.

A giant breakdown to kick the album off, a well-recognised sound for this music genre, without control my head starts nodding. Mattie Montgomery’s bellowing vocals pounding the airwaves over the top of the chugging massacre on show from Jim Hughes and Ryan Leitru’s deep, dark sounding guitars. Bass and Drums in Unison giving the extra punch to the monstrous deep tones.

Montgomery has what you would call a deep Metalcore vocal. A shout with a flood of guttural within it. It suits the composition perfectly. The power he has adds to the aggression and prominence of the music. Anything less than this would get pummelled under the instrumental onslaught from the rest of the band. This is true throughout the entire album, something I think a lot of vocalists would be jealous of.

The guitars don’t really come into life with melodies or harmonies until track 6 Wasteland. The album has a large amount of breakdowns in the first half which gives it a repetitive feel, but Wasteland has some incredible overlays. This track really does stand out in the first half of the album.

Hopeless Ambition has exactly the same feel as Wasteland, absolutely brilliant overlays but in keeping with the aggression of the heavy undertones and explosive vocals. The clean vocals on this track are impeccable also. Fantastic is an understatement.

The recording quality is excellent. Something which I think the band has not had in previous releases. They have an incredible dirty sound on this album you can’t help but move around to. You have to make the lyrics as catchy as possible in Metalcore. You want people singing along to your songs at gigs and Wake delivers this. Big catchy choruses on show in almost all the tracks. Determination being right up there for me.

Flooded Earth catches your ears straight away with a piano entry to bring a tear to your eye. You almost don’t want the heaviness to kick it, but it has to, it needs to and the riffs on show here are stunning, which is incredible when you think that Jim Hughes only joined the band half way through this year (2015). Once again, massive chorus!

Ending with a big track like Time And Tide was exactly what this album needed. Blasting start to a giant finish. The clean vocals taking precedent in the choruses again which is loved by all who listen to this music genre.

To close on I would like to say, this album is For Today’s best in my eyes. They seem to take strides forward on every release. I hope this continues into the future for the Sioux City metallers and for the sake of Christian Metalcore.

Alex's recommended track: Hopeless Ambition

For fans of: August Burns Red, Texas in July, Killswitch Engage

Can you see these guys in the UK?: There aren't any UK dates at this time, they probably won't be far off though.

For Today - Wake

by Alex Mumford - 6 October 2015

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