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Available: 4th May 2015

Illinois outfit Sworn In are back with new album The Lovers/The Devil, two years on from their debut, Death Card.

 

First things first, the album is a two part love story between an obsessive, emotionally unstable male and a cold, bitter female. The first seven songs make up the first part of the album – ‘The Lovers’ at which point, ‘The Devil’ takes over and the roles are reversed. An interesting idea, but what does it sound like? 

 

The album starts off with an eerie, acoustic, almost-lullaby, before descending into a world full of heaviness, twisted time signatures and crazy sound effects - some of which are not of this world. From this point on, the album never looks back.

 

I don’t really love you is a wonderfully euphoric leviathan of a song, whilst instrumental Waltz is a nice little break from the carnage that’s ensuing all around it. Speaking of carnage, Pocket Full Of Posies is the best track on the album, but it isn’t anywhere near as friendly as it sounds; don’t be fooled by the name.

The band describe themselves on Facebook as Emotional, and to look at the song titles alone you would be forgiven for thinking that’s all they were, but they are so much more than that, with elements of metal-core and progressive rock also present throughout.

 

There are thirteen songs in total here, each one an intense burst of energetic madness, but despite all the havoc, the album flows well from start to finish and the listener is rewarded with an entertaining concept. Sure, the vocals may be a bit abrasive for some listeners, but if you can get past that there is a lot to enjoy here.