2019’s The Sea of Tragic Beasts was a groundbreaking album for Fit for an Autopsy. It saw the ever-evolving act truly metamorphose from a deathcore-esque band into something entirely without definition (outside of metal, of course). 2022’s Oh What the Future Holds held that flag up high with offering some different variations and exploring some darkly heavy territory without jettisoning the progress that they had made previously. As their latest album, The Nothing That Is continues to see Fit for an Autopsy flex their muscles in this progressive, violently aggressive yet melancholic and beautiful approach that should more than satisfy fans of their previous two releases.
Much like the last two albums, it’s hard to really put much of a label on it as a whole. The combination of sheer brute force heaviness, chilling darkness and sorrow, and a feeling of melody without compromise continue to rank in at the top of Fit for an Autopsy’s priorities. So let’s talk about the heaviness first. If one thing stands out in this regard, it’s that there’s almost a renewed presence in making the album a bit more dark and brutal. This is apparent from the opening salvo of “Hostage.” Mammoth-sized grooves with effectively placed progressive melodies in the background provide a backdrop that builds itself up to the strong chorus, with sees Joe Badolato effortlessly flip to a cleaner vocal (something he has more of in recent years). “Lust for the Severed Head” uses a number of tech-y riffs and melodies in galloping tempos and bouncing grooves, alongside a bellowing breakdown, and should please long-time fans looking for some straight-ahead brutality that never relents. Likewise, “Weaker Wolves” tosses in some melodic hooks into an otherwise riff-forward aggression into a formula that will thrill as much as it causes you to dive into the track to hear it’s nuances.
Murky atmosphere has been a growing part of the FfaA arsenal for the last few albums, and it seems they’ve really mastered it here. “Lurch” has a quiet, moody clean opening that’s coupled with Badolato’s screams that sees fit to explode a bit later on while keeping that sense of bleakness. “Red Horizon” goes for a similar building-up approach to itself, but utilizes a more melodic side to it that flips the switch to go into oppressive heaviness in it’s stunning climax. Even the more straight-up aggressive tracks, such as melodeath-assisted ripper “Spoils of the Horde,” which swerves into an eerie solo later in the track before slowing to a crawl. But the masterstroke has again been saved for the finale, and “The Silver Sun” lives up to it’s predecessors. An esoteric opening with gloomy clean singing slowly escalates its sense of urgency into full-on blastbeats and monolithic grooves as the song picks up momentum before hitting it’s sorrow-fueled climax, which then longingly retreats as the song comes to a close. If there’s ever been a song to showcase this band’s evolution in one track, this one really nails it.
From thundering, gargantuan riffing to ear-worming melodies to a sullen, bleak atmosphere, Fit for an Autopsy continue to prove they can take a number of influences and make them fit into their perpetually evolving sound. The Nothing That Is represents their strengths in working new elements into the mix while maintaining a strong sense of consistency and urgency. Never has the gripping, visceral energy of the act that goes back well over a decade been compromised, they’ve simply found new ways to express it with outside flourishes of color to make that darkness stand out. Fit for an Autopsy have again proven themselves to be one of extreme music’s most consistent and exciting acts.
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