While She Sleeps - DOWN ft. Alex Taylor (Malvolence) (Spinefarm Records)

English:CD-preview
  Van Muylem    10 december 2023

While ‘DOWN’ is informed by the band’s desire to bring a whirlwind of fresh sonic influences to the fore, it nonetheless maintains the fierce aggression that typified the band’s roots. The track opens with an ominous blare of an MS-20 synth, before grinding heavyweight riffs, industrial-tinged beats and a soaring melodic hook heighten its intensity. Completed by a ferocious verse from Alex Taylor, ‘DOWN’ is indicative of where While She Sleeps are going in 2024: a maximalist, anything-goes attitude powered by swagger and self-belief.


Guitarist Sean Long says, “‘Down’ has been a central pillar in the new album throughout the writing process of ‘Self Hell’. Loz was completely on fire and it gave a reminiscent early Sleeps style to the track. The working title for this song was ‘Film-Riffs’ simply because it sounded like it could be in an action movie. And it will. That’s exactly what it is. A high-intensity new sound that you can’t not bang your head to. It was one of the first demos that we knew would be an integral part of the album, it houses all elements of the last 10+ years, yet we have also taken steps to excite ourselves in new areas and introduced new sounds to our advantage. The unmistakable MS20 has made its footprint on the new sound of Sleeps and gives the song an instant identity as soon as it starts.

The song is about our deepest desire to feel free from the grips of our own compulsions; trauma, past, society, and everything in between. While we all face this journey in life there are always obstacles that hinder our progress on the path. More often than not these manifest in the form of people who simply get in the way of your freedom and bring you down.”