Review by Saxy S for Ithaca - They Fear Us (2022)

To be honest, I do not understand the current climate in metalcore music. Not that I find all of it to be detestable, but why certain artists get heaps of critical acclaim, but next to no mainstream attention, or vice versa. Alternative metalcore is running wild at the moment as Spiritbox, Northlane, Bad Omens dominate charts, but when I view aggregate scoring lists for metalcore in 2022, I find albums like They Fear Us by London based band, Ithaca.

And upon listening to the album a few times, I can see some potential. I think moreso than anything else, Ithaca are taking a lot of influence from fellow UK metalcore band, Rolo Tomassi. And the comparisons go beyond face value; sure they have a female vocalist who has a decent blend of hardcore screaming and softer singing, but the instrumentals also bring in some more progressive elements, such as uncommon time signatures and unconventional guitar methods. And yet I find this album pretty generic to be frank. The breakdown riffs are formulaic, while the heavier sections cannot find a consistent groove the want to play with. This album finds itself swapping back and forth between Killswitch Engage, August Burns Red and Emmure riffs without doing much to distinguish them, or bring them together. Perhaps Ithaca thought that female vocals would be enough of a stylistic change to push them out, but I just do not hear it.

The production doesn't help much either. As a metalcore album, it has a strong preference to amplify the chugging guitars and Djamila's harsh vocals. Even during the softer, post-metal interludes, bass is not allowed to breathe over the top of some very nice sounding guitar chords and clean signing. The percussion does some heavier lifting with its standard kick heavy mix, but many times those kick drum lines actually run counter to the guitar chugging, a nice touch and gave me something to really focus on during the breakdowns.

The final two tracks of this record, "You Should Have Gone Back" and "Hold, Be Held" try for a "post-metalcore" sound, very much Greyhaven in influence. And I wonder why Ithaca did not go for this kind of sound more consistently throughout the album. The song structures, while not perfect, are a lot better here than earlier on in the record. As a whole, it tries to be a number of different bands at the same time, but cannot balance them all properly, and it ends up sounding like a mess. 

Best Songs: The Future Says Thank You, Number Five, Fluorescent