To Kill Achilles Offer Up Their Latest, Recovery

By Phil Hawkins

Through years of embracing honesty and channeling hardships into expression, To Kill Achilles begin their latest chapter, Recovery. “This record is the antithesis of our last [album], for far too long we’ve told the story of mental degradation without hope. Becoming completely drained repeating the same lines of how it hurts to be here, Recovery deals with courage, control, acceptance and ultimately the end goal that anyone in this circumstance seeks… the other side. This record is the journey of getting better, taking control of your life and the experiences around you.”

The sound of Recovery is delivered through sincere lyricism depicting real life experience with ferocity. The music is a mixture of aggression, sadness, hope and beauty, with soaring choruses that beg for inclusion and tear jerking storytelling that promotes the journey towards positivity.

Recovery kicks off with an interesting post-hardcore sound musically mixed with a distinctly unique vocal delivery that feels somewhat reminiscent of TJ Bonnette (As Cites Burn) or Shane Ochsner (Hands/Everything In Slow Motion). The post-hardcore elements stay mostly in tact through the opening tracks of “…and I’m an Addict,” “Chemical Counterpart” and “When the Light Goes Off.”

As the album progresses the musical and thematic elements begin to take a more prominent place as “Blue” presents what appears to be the story and feelings of loss due to a miscarriage. It’s a heavy subject matter that is not usually touched upon so openly in this type of musical arena. “Living in a Memory” follows and continues to touch on heavier thematic elements of loss and grief, however, it is the vocal delivery that add such a distinct gravitas to the album as a whole. “Fifteen Years” and “No Love Is a Crime” round out the middle section of the album and stick pretty close to the more post-hardcore sound found very early in the album.

The final act of the album kicks off with “Rats” which continues to lean in to the post-hardcore territory that is commonplace on the album. “Ghost Town” and “The Cave” delve in to more of a climactic descent for the album. “Recovery” closes out the album in true climactic grandeur that feels semi autobiographical and manages to truly capture the depth and personal nature of the album as a whole. It is heavy and poignant but manages to still capture the hope in the overall story being told (and add throws in a quite unexpected sax solo) before fading out and then ending in a very raw acoustic stripped down format.

Overall, Recovery is a heavy and personal album that tells an overall story of addiction, loss, grief, pain, depression and hope. Recovery is an album of recovery in every aspect of the word as the presentation and delivery is literally steeping with raw unbridled emotion that is sure to connect in various ways depending on the listener and what they may be facing or may have faced in the past.

Recovery is out now via Arising Empire and is available on all major streaming and digital platforms or you can order physical copies via the band’s webstore.

To Kill Achilles currently has some upcoming dates in the UK and you can track any future dates as they are announced here.