It isn’t hyperbole to say that the UK hardcore scene is in a fantastic state right now. Across the country, bands are emerging from the ashes of a dismal era in history to create amazing art and a lot of those are using their platform to blend and meld genres to fantastic effect. Some of those mixes are par for the course, but it takes a truly unique band to make you look at a description of their sound and loudly proclaim “What the fuck?”.
Enter Manchester’s Lure In. A self described blend of hardcore, shoegaze, noise and hyperpop with a dark, dystopian edge, on paper it seems a little disjointed. However, as soon as their brand new record We Are All Going To Hell begins to play, it all makes sense. Dreamy, sometimes nightmarish guitars fuse together with raw drums and a sense of the walls closing in, all wrapped in a distinctly upbeat (at least musically) bow. We Are All Going To Hell is the group’s second full length and hasn’t been an easy record to make. It has seen a new member join in the form of Sofia Sourianou from Deathbloom and sadly this is the final record that will feature founding drummer Sammy Coker. Thematically, it tackles the world as the band see it, a modern day dystopia that grips and drags our lives down with it, leaving us victims who are yet complicit to the horrors that exist beyond our immediate sight.
A frantic, battering ram of a record that aurally assaults you with 9 tracks in just over 18 minutes, it brings to mind bands like Coalesce and My Bloody Valentine among others. The production is almost claustrophobic, with a wall of sound encroaching on you at all times. Lead vocalist Cameron Wilson also produced this record and his experience dealing with complex, unorthodox bands as a part of the Dai Tan filming collective in a live environment really shows in this. The clattering drums and the abrasive guitars are mixed fantastically, and when things do get a little bit gazey the impact of a change in tone is substantial.
Photo Credit: Alex Dixon @blackboxphotoco
It’s a highly emotional record, wrought with despair and wracked with a sense of loss, not for anyone in particular but for a sense of hope, grieving the current state of the world we live in. As the title track shrieks into your ears and you’re bombarded with almost philosophical nihilism in the lyrics, it’s quickly clear that this record will make you think as well as make you want to make some drywall quiver. Some of the lyrical highlights include the lovely bluntness of “go fuck your flag if it means so much” in ‘Delusions of Grandeur‘ and the nerve-touching attack on the despicable scenes in the Middle East in “when you stare across the screen, the only thing that you will see, is death, nothing but death, nothing but death & destruction, the shit you’re complicit to see”. It’s heartbreaking, and so horrifyingly correct.
It’s almost over too quickly, at times feeling like one long piece movement rather than individual tracks. The band manage to fit so much into these 18 minutes and change, from two step parts backed by powerful, deranged preacher vocals from Cam in ‘Your Own Worth’ to a track that sounds like it could have came straight from the Converge record No Heroes with ‘I saw You In My Dreams Again’. There’s even a particularly ignorant breakdown in ‘Delusions of Grandeur’ to satisfy the more violently inclined and will surely mark the appearance of some claret when played live.
A stunning chapter in the UK heavy music scene, one that will remain due to its authenticity and raw production. An ambitious, chaotic sprawling journey that will tug at your heartstrings and bite the back of your neck. They’re on tour soon and you’d be an absolute fool to miss out on them. There aren’t many bands who could do something this special, this seminal and still retain an aura of unpredictability and DIY devotion.