I’ve been on a massive progressive kick recently; something about Summer, perhaps, has awakened my need for complex and challenging music. Which is good timing for She Said Destroy to approach me with the third single from their upcoming release Succession, since being unexpected and complex is what this band is all about. With vocals and lyrics from one Anders Bakke (Beaten to Death) and a passionate dedication to blending post-rock, black metal, and progressive metal, She Said Destroy stop at nothing to make “To Ourselves the World Entire” one hell of an engaging track. In fact, it’s one of the premieres I’m most happy to have done in the last year or so, and that says something because I’ve premiered a lot of music recently. OK, enough exposition; let’s get to the good stuff!
There’s so much to choose from when talking about this track, since it does so many things very, very well. But if you know me, you can probably already guess that I’d start from the groove section of this track and with good reason because, by Jove, it’s so good! The drums are not only punchy in tone but also in composition, tight and precise to exact the sort of agility and momentum that this track requires. The bass is the thrust behind their punch, picking out all the spaces beneath them and the guitars and bringing them to the fore. It’s also impressive how good the groove section is across all of the genres that the track dabbles in; whether it’s the off-kilter, staccato, progressive time signatures of the track’s opening moments, the more dreamy post-metal/rock harmonies of its middle segments, or the quieter bass touches near its end (beneath those stunning guitar leads), the drums and bass deliver exactly what is needed from them.
Throw in Bakke’s excellently aggressive vocals, the fact that the track really does touch on all of those genres without dispersing into meaningless noise, and the overall hopeful and wilful tone of the track and you’re all set. There’s no exact release date yet for Succession so make sure you keep an eye out on the band’s Facebook page for more information. For me, this is one of the more exciting releases for the second half of 2021 and I can’t wait to hear She Said Destroy deliver on my expectations.