New Jersey based heavies Fit For An Autopsy have announced that their fifth full length album is on the way. Beautifully and imagination-inspiringly entitled, The Sea of Tragic Beasts is set to release on 25th October via Human Warfare here in Australia and Nuclear Blast for the rest of the world. First single “Mirrors” released last week along with a music video courtesy of Max Moore Films.
Dark, forlorn, and echoing, “Mirrors” caught my attention from its sombre introduction alone. The distant and anguished voice crying out tugged easily at my heartstrings and I was hooked into whatever this adventure promised to reveal. Soon more solid and assertive, “Mirrors” roars; a majestic lion in front of a mirror with another entirely different creature living within it.
Shifting in pace and intensity, “Mirrors” becomes frantic like a desperate hunt for escape, with guitars flitting all over the place and punishing beats hammering down. It reeks like the double-edged sword of using chemical cures to soothe blows with an increasing need for ever more to feel the same numbness. Experiences of life and loss are part of the story and of the daily bombardment. “Mirrors”‘ music video makes the subject matter movingly and uncomfortably crystal clear.
Relentless drum blasts herald the return to the ache and call of “I saw your ghost in my reflection”, with the sung version barely audible under everything else that’s going on. It’s impactful in a way that I can’t word; where this strength of sound exists alongside statements of brokenness and a voice tries to break through. It might not even be a voice but an instrumental cry instead. Regardless, hopelessness hangs thick in the air.
A last gasp of rhythmic trudging is brilliantly placed in both refusing to let go and recognising the damage in holding on. It’s four minutes and 22 seconds of a troubling wrestling match, and I adore it.
If this is a prelude to what’s to come in the album? I’m in. Pre-orders of The Sea Of Tragic Beasts are available via theseaoftragicbeasts.com.
