New While She Sleeps music! Following the release of the polarising single Self Hell, and the announcement of their upcoming new album (also called Self Hell), the Sheffield metalcore favourites have dropped the second single from their impending new album. For their new single Down, While She Sleeps have recruited their good friend Alex Taylor of UK hardcore thrashers and fellow Sheffield natives Malevolence. You can check out the incredibly creative video for Down, stitched together from hundreds of individual images, below:
Here’s WSS guitarist Sean Long on the part Down has played in the recording of their upcoming new album Self Hell:
‘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 manifests in the form of people who simply get in the way of your freedom and bring you down.
Pre-orders and pre-saves for the new album Self Hell are available on this link. Self Hell will be available on the 29th of March 2024, released on Sleeps Brothers’ records. The album was recorded at Metropolis Studios in London, Treehouse Studio in Chesterfield, and their own Six Audio in Sheffield. Self Hell was produced by WSS guitarist Sean Long and their long term collaborator Carl Brown.
The news of the new album follows on from While She Sleeps’ sold out show at London’s Alexandra Palace. Over 10,000 fans filled the famous old venue in September 2023 for a night never to be forgotten. Their next live UK show will be part of the huge line up for the 2024 Download Festival. This will be WSS’s first appearance at Donington since their show-stealing appearance at the 2021 Download Pilot Festival. Which day and stage While She Sleeps will appear on is yet to be confirmed. With this said, they are one of the “logo bands” on the poster, so Sleeps’ fans can expect the band to have a significant spot on the bill. Get your tickets for Download Festival 2024 on this link.
