Track By Tracks: As We Suffer - The Fallen Pillars (2021)

1. Caustic Paradigm:

This is a track that definitely feels a kinship with bands like Death by Stereo and Strung Out. Fast and crushing with a melodic breakdown. Lyrically dealing with the destructive ways we treat the planet, tying in how the graves of the Natives of our country have been melted down in favour of a caustic paradigm.

2. Malicious Compliance:

One of the heaviest tracks on the album, and only one of 3 with no clean vocals. Like a sledgehammer attack on the listener, blunt and explosive. Lyrically, Malicious is about how we’ve given up our freedom for convenience yet something deep down beckons us to change. We accept our enslavement with clenched jaw.

3. An Open Letter:

First track written for the album. Groovy with punk, metalcore and hard rock influence. The breakdown is brutal and the chorus clean, but it never lacks aggression. Lyrically, this is about how politics pit us against each other. This is from the perspective of a right winger, beckoning the left to join the other side yet never realizing the pure hypocrisy in the endeavor.

4. Fucking Relentless:

The speed of this is, well, fucking relentless. The pause from the thrashy/punk style comes in the form of a Metallica inspired chorus, right back into a blistering solo. Lyrically this is about a man consumed by anger though they never let anyone see it until the explosion of rage that feels calm (coinciding with the chorus). The title is a nod to Fucking Hostile by Pantera.

5. Invade the Host:

This track feels like Propaghandi gone metal. IT’s a heavy and briskly paced track with a melodic chorus. It also features one of the best breakdowns on the album that hits right in the feels. Lyrically, it’s about the tendency for societies to take over others through tyranny, then the uprising of the disenfranchised takes over and they themselves become tyrannical. All the while, God is pulling the strings.

6. The Great Leveler:

Hard rock with a blistering skate punk infused conclusion and filled with melody the whole way through. Lyrically, this is a track about death. Written at a time when two people I love were diagnosed with cancer. This is about the anger, frustration and pain experienced when someone gets sick and/or dies. Death is the great leveler.

7. High Tide:

Second of three tracks with no cleans. High Tide is groovy, vicious and hardcore. The breakdown is one of the heaviest on the album. If this shit doesn’t make you nod, you’re probably dead inside. Lyrically, this is about a glorious tide of zombies coming to wash away the scum of the earth into the ocean, yet those who die come back as zombies themselves in a vicious gut-tearing frenzy.

8. Scatter the Herd:

Somewhere between thrash and skate punk, with a sprinkling of Trivium inspired heavy metal, this track speeds along at a quick pace delivering a clean chorus and wicked solo. Lyrically, it focuses on herd mentality and the deep-seated fear that causes it.

9. Shadows Caste in White:

Hardcore and Groovy, this Propaghandi inspired tune goes for the jugular vocally, and aims to make you groove all the while. With it’s AFI inspired conclusion, the song leaves the listener wanting more. Lyrically, this is a stab at hierarchies that cause the masses to loose individuality. The song calls to destroy the herd mentality and break free from the chains of oppression.

10. Concrete Fist:

Groove Metal track inspired by the likes of Devildriver and Lamb of God. This is the third of three tracks with no cleans. This track charges on, bringing the listener into it’s world of violent reform. Heavy from start to finish with a hardcore breakdown and killer solo. Lyrically, this ia about making a stand through violent uprising with the caveat that this kind of solution often comes at the sacrifice of a healthy mind.

11. The Fallen Pillars:

We cap the record off with our first single and title track. We end the album with this track to symbolize the end of an era of As We Suffer and the advancement into new territory. Musically, there’s a heavy djenty vibe and at the same time, is our most melodic track on the album. Inspired by bands like August Burns Red, Killswitch Engage and early Bullet for my Valentine, The Fallen Pilars takes the listener on a journey of the observer, witnessing the chaos all around them, and instead of joining, they decide to venture on a quest of inner truth, even as death brings it’s pestilence and war. A song of death and destruction but also of growth and rebirth.