26th January 2024

Review: “The Fear” by Asylum Road

Hailing from Derry, Northern Ireland Asylum Road began life back in 2019, as the brain child of guitarist Dylan Kelly and vocalist Darryn McCartney, who wrote and recorded a collection of demos as they searched for musicians to help them chase the dream. A couple of years of plague, famine and pestilence passed by before mid 2023 the pairing found bassist Brian Smith and drummer Eithan Murry to give them a rhythm section to match their earlier vision. Work immediately commenced on a blueprint for World Domination as the four piece wrote a debut EP titled “The Fear“; the title track premiering a couple of months before the records release and greeted by 11k of YouTube streams alone…

While not described as a concept record, “The Fear” does have that overarching theme interwoven into the lyrical narratives of the songs, something which serves to bring them together nicely and gives the record as a while a real cohesion. A really nice drum sound elevates the recording quality however the tracks have the feel a little rough around the edges as if recorded live in the studio, their flow a little volatile. Rather than a hinderance, that ends up giving the record a charm and energy that others might find difficult to recreate. The fear campaign itself begins with mid-tempo chugger “Malignant“, a groove laden track that packs a solid punch with staccato riff breaks and obvious late 90’s influences from the likes of Pantera and “Roots” era Sepultura. All that’s lacking is a smouldering solo to give it that real gut punch moment but it’s still the kind of opening cut that will turn heads. “Hyperfixated” and titled track “The Fear” are lyrically conjoined twins, both talk about the dangers and consequences of overindulging in alcohol on a night out, the former having a tasteful bass solo from Smith while bleeding headbangable groove.

The title track follows the same left hand path with some Down inspired riffs and tinges of Hardcore Punk in a sing-a-long chorus, a solo adding some flamboyance while confirming that they have that in their arsenal to use if they so desire. There is an interesting dynamic here with the band balancing the heavier Groove Metal aspects with some softer more melodic moments from Traditional Heavy Metal, something that not only works very well but gives the songs a timeless feel. They could have released this record at any point in the past 35 years and no-one would be any the wiser, it would have sounded just as good then as it sounds now.

Another stand out is “Changing Of The Tide“, Murry giving a standout performance from behind the kit with some incredible fills and jackhammer footwork, Kelly once again bringing a solid solo. The vocals are a little harsher from McCartney, as if this one means a little more and that bodes well for the live arena before “Requiem” finds the vocal boundaries pushed in both directions. A couple of really nice cleaner moments in the chorus are balanced off by some hitherto unheard gravelly lows which add to the haunting melancholic feel and give it a real atmosphere. Unlike the earlier cuts this one feels like it’s heart of darkness has Melodic Death Metal roots so perhaps given time they will incorporate a little more of that. Overall “The Fear” is the kind of solid foundation record that puts Asylum Road on the map, establishing their sound and marking their territory… [7/10]

Track Listing