Brainwashed

Over recent months, Sheffield metalcore mainstays have rejected steady growth in favour of meteoric rise. Becoming progressively accustomed to honours, accolades, and awards falling at their feet, leaving a sold-out 11,000 capacity Alexandra Palace, the release of a trailblazing 6th full length studio album, and multiple international magazine covers smouldering in their wake.

In September last year, a retrospective release was ordered to examine the foundations of While She Sleeps. The first steps of which, was in celebrating their studio debut ‘This Is The Six’ by pressing it to vinyl for the first time. This examination showed a record showcasing the first steps of the infusion of visceral, ferocious metal and hardcore roots with an innate ability to appeal to a broader audience, setting them on their path to where they are today. Following the albums original release and acclaim, they subsequently toured with the likes of Architects, Parkway Drive and Asking Alexandria, and won the prestigious Kerrang! Award for Best British Newcomer.

To continue highlighting the next chapter in the story, While She Sleeps will today announce that ‘Brainwashed’ will be coming to vinyl for the first time ever. Set for release on the 22nd of May 2024 via Music For Nations / Sony Music, the album will be pressed on exclusive red vinyl.

Again, another pivotal release in the band’s career and one that continued their claim on an increasingly sizeable audience. Speaking on the release Mat Welsh expands:

“Brainwashed was an interesting time for us as a band, after the success of This Is The Six we felt the classic syndrome of ‘how do you follow up on a successful debut’. Our answer to this was to harness every bit of aggression and struggle we had and to channel it into the record. We wanted to make something that felt raw & relevant and provide a depiction of how the media & industry has the public under its control, in particular how our decisions are tailored to suit their profits. This record was our way of saying ‘we know what’s going on & we won’t be part of it’. During the studio process Loz and I lived in a tiny practice room in an old factory building in Sheffield. It was rough, we slept on the floor and ate out of a microwave and we spent all day writing lyrics together after two months recording the music. We actually recorded almost the whole album with no vocals written and then took a break to write the vocals. Loz was awaiting vocal surgery and sang with polyps on his vocal cords, you can hear the strain & agony in his voice on this album. It was a hard process but one I remember fondly. And I especially love how the record still feels as relevant today as it did when we released it, potentially even more so with control and coercion even more so apparent today.”