This is the second album from US metalcore band Dying Wish.
2021’s Fragments of a Bitter Memory was a solid slab of 00s-style metalcore, so Symptoms of Survival is one that I know I wanted to check out. Boasting a lean, mean 32 minutes of new material, in what form do we find Dying Wish’s 2023 offering?
On top form, devastating all around it, apparently.
Dying Wish continue on from Fragments of Bitter Memory seamlessly, only bigger and stronger, providing the listener with a feast of heavy metalcore to digest. Taking influence from the chunkier aspects of acts like Unearth, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Parkway Drive, The Agony Scene, Darkest Hour, etc., Dying Wish crush the listener with endless breakdowns, burly riffs, punishing beats, and sickeningly harsh screams.
Like many of the NWOAHM greats from the 00s, Dying Wish fuse Scandinavian melodic death metal with American hardcore to produce something effortlessly enjoyable. If anything, Symptoms of Survival delves deeper into this era than its predecessor did, so authentically of the time does it sound. I have to say that it fits right in and that it’s a great album, delivering the goods one humungous breakdown at a time.
The lead vocals are harsher and nastier than they were previously, and the singer’s voice sounds better than ever. This is also true of the clean singing; bolder, more confident, and more powerful, I like that the singer’s cleans are used sparingly enough so that when they appear, they have maximum impact. She’s joined on occasion by gruff barked backing vocals that add a brutal edge.
With well-written songs that hit the spot nicely, Symptoms of Survival is a more-than-solid metalcore album that embraces the version of itself from a couple of decades ago. Dying Wish 2.0 is an upgrade in every way from Dying Wish 1.0, and I can’t recommend this enough if you’re a fan of quality heaviness.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 