2012: A year of resounding victory for Sheffield’s While She Sleeps. With a near faultless debut full length, regular daytime radio airtime and tours pencilled in playing venues they only ever dreamed of, the stage was set for world domination. Then 2013 hit. Following a summer in the States, vocalist Loz Taylor started spitting up blood after performing. The ‘C’ word started to get thrown around. Recording was pushed back further and further. Uncertainty, tension and several hospital stays put the future of the band in jeopardy and the chance of a second album ever seeing the light of day increasingly doubtful.

That was then though. ‘Brainwashed’ is now.

After months of working and waiting, WSS are welcoming in a new era and as ‘The Divide’ leaks into ‘New World Torture’ with its crushing melody, nu metal leanings and a riff that could peel the paint off the walls, all the pain and heartache of the last 18 months is all but washed away. Where before there was ambiguity and anxiety, there is now blossoming confidence, flare and filthy guitars laced with unhinged spite as demonstrated by the title track. Tirelessly pummeling and already shooting at their flag waving best two tracks in, where they could have easily over-thought and overdone everything Sleeps have held back, stuck to their roots and delivered something that is instantly and categorically ‘them’.

The time spent in hospital has meant vocalist Taylor has had to adapt the strain put on his vocal chords, though has come out the other end sounding hungrier. With the effort put into ‘Our Legacy’ and Torment’ coated with more gravel than your Nan’s front drive and possessing plenty of bile on the side to fuel the fire, he puts in an impassioned performance that cements his and the band’s intentions of never giving up in the face of adversity. Guitarist Matt Welsh has also taken on extra vocal work popping up more regularly to decorate tracks with his own trademark bite and providing a suitable reply to Taylor’s howls. The new vocal directions seems to have inspired experimentation within the band’s song writing formula as well with stormer ‘Trophies Of Violence’ toying with spoken word, tribal drums, nostalgic malice and plenty of boisterous mosh calls.

Something that has always played a big part in the set up of WSS is the unity and brotherhood within the band. The Northern spirit and ‘never give up’ aesthetic that has been a prominent theme throughout their career, and that has hit even harder at this time when things could have more than easily imploded in on themselves and sank into the depths of memory, is still very much a key feature and provides rallying influence throughout ‘Brainwashed’. It’s clear how much of a celebration and weight off the shoulders this album is to Sleeps as well. With the insurmountable pressure placed on them to perform, having ‘Brainwashed’ finally out in the open rather than trapped in a studio is a notable relief and the boisterous atmosphere throughout is a more than a credit to that.

Seeing things out with ‘Method In Madness’ brilliantly utilising cowbell alongside it’s 2-step inducing beats and the piano led poignancy of ‘Modern Minds’ leaving a sombre taste at the back of the throat, Sleeps have managed to get it spot on.  From staring disaster in the face, they have clawed back to the top of the pile and with their perfectly weighted combination of metalcore pace, hardcore integrity and brute metal pride have managed to kick-start the redefinition of modern British metal on their own terms. People look back on the careers of bands in great depth and receive hours of discussion from it. In years to come, the life and times of While She Sleeps will surely be scrutinised and probed just as much. ‘Brainwashed’ will be remembered as the point that they went nuclear.

‘Brainwashed’ is released on 23rd March through Search And Destroy/ Sony Music