The Hell We Create

I like this record. It's a vast improvement on the previous one, and that's saying something because the Path--while no means bad-- was just.... fine? It was really disappointing seeing a group of guys that are so capable of beautiful terror put out something that felt so tame and generic for them. My biggest letdown has honestly been Daniel's performance. Now let me say this: I saw another reviewer say they want him gone from this band because he is apparently the probelm here. I WHOLEHEARTEDLY disagree. I think the issue is that FFAK have acquired one of the single most talented and creative individuals in their industry, and he is tethered to the earth by this basic, no-frills sound. I fear Daniel being in this band because the other one he's supposed to be in is my absolute favorite and I love what he brings to Phinehas, it is next level riff city over there. But if Daniel continues with Fit For A King, and ESPECIALLY if his involvement in this massive band takes him away from Phinehas? Then he had better, better be allowed to do what he does best. Melt my face, shred my eardrums, unleash the full might and fury of metalcore-- TRUE Golden Age metalcore. The root of the issue with FFAK in its current state is not any one member. It is the fact that Ryan Kirby as a vocalist and Daniel Gailey as a guitarist have between them the power to break the world, and they show us mercy. Ryan, Dan. I love you both. I like this album. But please, here, take this sound you're cultivating, pour all of your terrible power into it... and LET THIS DESTROY ME!

They put a lot of their emotion in this album, and it shows. Each song is personal for at least one member of the band, the stories behind the songs add to the impact all the more. The breakdowns are heavy, the Kirby cleans are insanely good, and Kirby uncleans are at their best.

I love bands like FFAK that can give you that great sound/lyrics you can rely on, while adding some unique twists to their style, and don’t ENTIRELY change like some bands feel they have to in order to show what they call “growth”. Growth can always be portrayed like FFAK resembles and I know their fans appreciate. Their production sounds better than ever! Kudos FFAK.

By no means is this bad, it’s a lot better than The Path, but the tinges of genericness are a bit disappointing considering how original FFAK’s albums were up to Dark Skies. But I got to hand it to them for making THWC more aggressive and energetic than last time; their new drummer isn’t as proficient as Jared Easterling but he has a lot of heart and pours it into his playing, and Ryan Kirby sounds more like he did on the first four albums, which is nice considering he was getting lukewarm lately. Despite the rather pedestrian approach, the songs are relatively good, not really much of filler, thankfully. Of course we all agree that Reaper and Eyes Roll Back are the best ones, but I also enjoy End, What You Left Behind and Fracture. Times like This really is just a rewrite of Breaking the Mirror, but in my eyes it’s far superior to that dud. Some will say THWC is forgettable, but I’m okay with it. Just bring out more Reapers and Eyes Roll Backs for the next one, and how about combining the sounds of Creation/Destruction and Dark Skies too? I will accept this album’s sound for now, but please don’t keep sounding like As I Lay Dying Jr., or Killswitch Engage Jr.! BRING US MORE DEATHCORE!!! FIRST FOUR FOREVER!!!!!!!

This is what should have followed Dark Skies, as it feels much more motivated than The Path. However, one more album with Eb, drop C tuning generic metalcore and I think Daniel Gailey needs to leave, which is sad because he is a good guitarist. On the bright side, Ryan Kirby returns to sounding like demonic Yoda again, and Eyes Roll Back and Reaper hopefully point to a return to Deathcore in the future. Not as bad as it could’ve been, but they need to do better from hereon out!

My favorite going all the way back to Descendants. My only complaint is the mix is a bit muddied and flat from their previous releases.

Not many Albums today I like from top to bottom all of the way through. This is NOT one of those Albums.

FFAK comes through with another great album. Well worth the listen.

I’ve been a fan of this band since creation destruction and can’t help but feel like this band has succumb to generic radio friendly metalcore songs that sound like every other metalcore group since 2010. “Falling through the sky” has to be the most generic song they’ve ever done. Songs like “sink below” “fracture” and “reaching out” are forgettable at best. What is this light rock? Listen to “times like this” and then go listen to “breaking the mirror” from the path and tell me they aren’t essentially the same song but with a slightly more motivated drummer. “Eyes roll back” is one of their better songs but it suffers the same problem as the conclusion of the title track…just long stretches of monotone guitars where again the drummer is the only interesting piece. The only reason this song and reaper exist on this album is to prove they haven’t completely sold out, but neither of those songs really fit in the context of the rest of this album. So unfortunate to see bands like this go the generic radio route. 2 stars bc reaper, eyes roll back and end are really good but that’s about it.

The emo crybaby ruins it for me. He needs to be quiet.