Review by Connor Lane (@connorlanecreative)

ANNALYNN, the Thai Metalcore masterminds released their new EP ‘Failure Will Find Me’  on May 24th through Greyscale Records. Mixed and mastered by Lance Prenc (Alpha Wolf, Polaris, Void of Vision) and features four tracks, including last year’s single ‘Disappear‘ and the April release ‘Circle The Flame‘- which was picked as one of Metal Hammer’s tracks of the week. 

‘Failure Will Find Me’ explores heavy emotions, feeling low, caving to the darkness and seeking the meaning of it all. Starting strong with ‘Circle The Flame‘ which immediately gives us a taste of the new record, from the get go we get introduced by a slow introduction of gang vocals building into the breakdown. Nathapon ‘Bon’ Jutathaveewan,  the lead vocalist throws everything they have into the breakdown. In the line “Lost in the shadows, feeds the flame” we also get a taste of guitarist Nuttapop ‘Pob’ Cheunsuktananun‘s clean vocals, which highlights the extensive skill ANNALYNN has at their disposal.

After the slow outro and fade out by ‘Circle The Flame‘ we are immediately graced with a hellish guitar intro for ‘Bathed in Sin‘. Housing it’s name as the second track on the EP, we get a better understanding of the bands vocal experimentation, composing of a full clean chorus and quickly reverting to their strong gutturals for the verses. ‘Bathed in Sin‘s bridge has a very Courtney LaPlante (Spiritbox)-esque sound to it which gives first-time listeners to the band a familiarity with the track. ‘Bathed in Sin‘ highlights the band’s destination of heavy emotions and caving to the darkness, heard in the line:

“God, can you make amends to the feeling we pretend? When death becomes me, you’ll find me bathed in sin“.

Lance Prenc‘s role in producing ‘Failure Will Find Me‘ is highlighted and explored further in the track ‘(019001)‘. The familiarity found as soon as the track starts takes the listener into the realm of such bands as Void of Vision, and Polaris, which producer Lance has worked with in the past. ‘(019001)‘ No word of a lie is the heaviest song on the EP, not giving up the band pursues no clean vocals on the track except for the small interjection of backing gang vocals in the bridge “10-9-10“. 

The final track on ‘Failure Will Find Me’ is ‘Disappear‘, which was released earlier in preparation for the EP back in June 2023. ‘Disappear‘ takes a different turn to the previous tracks from the beginning. Instead of the heavy breakdowns and guitar riffs heard in the previous tracks, we are graced with a synth introduction. After the introduction to the track, we are greeted with a heavy breakdown that has been normalised within this EP, moving into a more ‘pop’ inspired chorus with upbeat clean vocals. 

What truly sets ‘Failure Will Find Me‘ apart from other releases this year is its fearless exploration not yet ventured by the band, compared to their ‘A Conversation With Evil‘ album released back in 2021. Sonically, ANNALYNN is moving in the right direction. ‘Disappear‘ feels lost on the EP, with the band experimenting with their sound should have left ‘Disappear‘ as a single and gifted us with more of their new sound. 

‘Failure Will Find Me‘ will be found on upcoming metal rotations for years to come. 

Rating 8/10

Stream ‘Failure Will Find Me’ here.
Artwork by Josh Ang (@angelseason__)