Fit for an Autopsy – Oh What the Future Holds (Review)

Fit for an Autopsy are a deathcore band from the US and this is their sixth album.

Both 2017’s The Great Collapse and 2019’s The Sea of Tragic Beasts demonstrated Fit for an Autopsy‘s superiority when it comes to deathcore. The band are just doing better things with the style than most other ostensibly similar bands out there. With that in mind, expectations were high for Oh What the Future Holds.

Fit for an Autopsy play more than simple deathcore; post-deathcore, as the promo sheet says, isn’t an inappropriate label. Even the pure deathcore parts, which are relatively few and far between, avoid the usual tired tropes of the genre. Doom, sludge, melodic death metal, technical metal, and progressive metal elements are all thrown into the mix at one point or another. These, as well as an individual take on clean singing and the occasional use of other instruments and sounds such as violin, all add to Fit for an Autopsy’s idiosyncratic sound.

Fit for an Autopsy’s music is intelligent and well-crafted. There is more than enough heaviness and aggression here to satisfy fans of the base deathcore style, but to this is added emotive, atmospheric, and mood-based ingredients that really bring the music up to a higher level.

These new songs are well-written and filled with interesting and creative content. The band’s ability to write both instant-appeal catchiness and in-depth substance is impressive, especially as these are frequently not mutually exclusive in their delivery. The band are very capable at anything they turn their hands to. When they want to be heavy they’re absolutely crushing. When they want to belt out a massive chorus they’re up to the challenge. A cleanly-sung atmospheric section is effortlessly handled. An increase in affecting melody? Done. A killer solo? No problem at all. Everything here is well-realised and very satisfying, and each song has its own character and personality.

The band’s singer is on top form as usual. More so in fact; Oh What the Future Holds boasts his most diverse delivery yet, ranging from the brutal to the ethereal. The rest of the music follows suit, and the entire band are to be commended for their cohesiveness and skill.

Well, expectations have been more than met for Fit for an Autopsy’s latest. This is simply a great metal album. For anyone into modern heavy music this is an essential listen.