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Amazingly consistent and consistently amazing, there was no chance 2023 ends without an official release by Spiritbox. For a third consecutive year, we are blessed with new music from one of the most exciting, versatile and immaginative bands of our time, and their latest EP The Fear Of Fear fits perfectly in that series with its almost annoyingly predictable excellence. Following the primal energy of Spiritbox (2017), the all-round mastery of Eternal Blue (2021) and the alternative charm of Rotoscope (2022), their latest creation takes the best sides from those releases and adapts them to sound adequate with no risks, but how does it fare against the impossible expectations and context of 2023?
Hype aside, the perfection anticipated from Spiritbox also happens to be the biggest downside of those new six tracks, if we really have to point out one, for they just happen to be great but not greater, a good problem to have but a problem nonetheless. We are yet to witness Spiritbox making a misstep and there is absolutely nothing wrong with The Fear of Fear, it really is a killer piece of modern metalcore of the highest quality. I will probably rank it amongs the top 5 EPs of the year with no hesitation, and will keep those tracks on repeat for years to come, but I cannot help but feel like it could have been even better. That is, if we really have to point out anything and if we judge the EP as a colection.
Now ignore all that rambling and dive into the music to realise that Spiritbox in 2023 embody what consistency in the modern scene is and we all need to learn to appreciate it more. The Fear of Fear really takes into consideration all those fine nuances that made their previous releases so iconic, and rearrange them through the prism of their maturity as musicians and people. It is an EP that is new yet familiar, surprising yet predictable, exciting yet expected, a musical paradox reserved only for the greatest of bands. And for all my forced criticism , Spiritbox have cemented themselves as one of the greatest bands of their generation, and are steadily on course to also transcend time, trends and genres.
In my review of Rotoscope from last Summer, I called it Spiritbox 2.0, a fresh and modern upgrade of the original vanilla version as shown in Eternal Blue, and if we follow that logic, then The Fear of Fear is pretty much a Spiritbox 2.5 - a new update that offers pleasant cosmetic improvements and minor performance fixes without considerable change in core functionality or system architecture. It takes the more radio-friendly, grungey, nu-metal-infused direction of their 2022 drop, spins them around and dips them right back into the darker pool of their riff-led, psychotic, djenty, industrial, and pit-starting output of 2021 and earlier days. What it lacks in risks and originality, it compensates with perfection and maturity, a polished and even more meticulously arranged version of what we love so much.
The the increasingly more synergetic quartet must have gone through a particularly wide range of emotions, moods and ideas while writing The Fear of Fear to achieve such extreme opposites even by their standards. Early this year 'The Void' gave the EP a slightghly underwhelming introduction with its driving and upbeat but repetative 'Rotoscope'-y feel, immediately fixed by 'Jaded' and its huge, atmospheric 'Circle With Me' vibe, and then brought back to the core with the 'Holy Roller'-esque ferocity and intensity of 'Cellar Door'. Then, if there were any voids left or areas unexplored, they were perfectly filled with the gentle 'Too Close / Too Left', the thunderous 'Angel Eyes' and the dreamy 'Ultraviolet', all three a fresh take on the well known classics 'Constance', 'Hurt You' and 'Secret Garden'.
Put in parallel like that it becomes even clearer that musically and even visually The Fear of Fear leans more towards Eternal Blue than Rotoscope, but with a noticeably bigger focus on melodies and post-production polish, characteristic for the latter, as well as embracing the confidence of the global powerhouse that Spiritbox have become. The EP takes the best of both worlds and opens up a third, brand new dimension of equally close and alien themes for us to get lost in. It is a portfolio of all those intricate details that make Spiritbox the contemporary musical wonder that they are, and hopefully they go bolder on the next.
Much like the end of my reviews of Eternal Blue and Rotoscope, I am inclined to ask the same question again - where do Spiritbox go next? Where I did anticipate the more mainstream direction of Rotoscope, I definitely did not expect The Fear of Fear to simultaneously go back to basics while looking ahead to the future with such determination. I can imagine this is a firm step back before the huge leap forward and can only hope their next full lenght is as daring and game-changing as appropriate for their growing stature.
Spiritbox - 'The Fear Of Fear' EP
Country: Canada
Released: 3 November 2023
Label: Pale C hord Records / Rise Records
1. 'Cellar Door'
2. 'Jaded'
3. 'Too Close/Too Late'
4. 'Angel Eyes'
5. 'The Void'
6. 'Ultraviolet'
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