It’s been not even 18 months since the last Graphic Nature album, and impressively, the fog of ‘too much too soon’ isn’t suffocating them. It’s likely down to the technique, in how grisly, industrialised nu-metal akin to an updated early Slipknot doesn’t require a truckload of deliberation. So although this is effectively a flat extension of what came before, you can’t really grumble. A Mind Waiting To Die was one of the heavy highlights of 2023, and its efficiencies remain clung tightly enough to the hippocampus to remember the extent of that notion.
In other words, Who Are You When No One Is Watching? is far from some stale rehash. When a pertinent point of reference is still the formative years of nine lunatics in masks and boiler suits, it’s difficult to think that way. Even with some more refined sensibilities, the point still stands. Obviously a less animalistic production palette is in place, though that’s more an unavoidable truth than a concession. Blame that more on the general power-creep of this sound rather than Graphic Nature themselves, who still valiantly put in the work to foster a similar impression. Compared to other species of nu-metal revivalist or (god forbid) the superficially ‘dark’ edge-mongers with nothing to say beneath their tired prostrations, Graphic Nature are lapping them without even breaking a sweat.
It isn’t even a contest, nor is it treated like there’s some secret to doing it better. The point stands that Graphic Nature’s intensity feels suitably believable, and a far cry away from others that don’t. As trite as it’s become to end your salvo with recordings of your own muffled screams and cries, For You as the climax of Harvey Freeman’s extensive self-flagellating screed makes it land a lot more cleanly. There’s also Blinded with its repeated screams of “I don’t even know what I’m worth”, and the systematic erosion of self-esteem and personhood on Something I’m Not, both sentiments launched with a seemingly deliberate thesis to smash apart accusations of artifice or not being genuine. The art of Graphic Nature comes in the thick-and-fast barrages of misanthropy that are just as deadly to Freeman himself as a third-party listener.
In itself, that’s Slipknot-y enough to count, a lot more so than what many will muster. On the same token, though, Graphic Nature are just vastly superior at sonic brutality and the opportunities that opens up for them. Of course that means the heaviest moments are played with little restraint, in how the bass will rip at the ground to plunge itself to subterranean levels, or how the guitars are universally equipped with their own rusty sawblades. Dig deeper and you’ll arrive further into Graphic Nature’s industrial torture box, full of hostile, cold, metallic edges and—as evidenced by the closing blowout of To The Grave—no fear when it comes to pulling out some top-end bone-breaking.
That, in turn, plays into the drum ‘n’ bass thread of Graphic Nature, which has morphed into the key piece to define them as a great band. Predominantly, it’s a case of being an element that’s never overused or relied on for a quick fix. It’s either sparingly placed to bolster an already fantastic core—see the liquid D’n’B interlude Session24 and its perfect sequencing in the tracklist—or rolled out in such a way to be bolstered and built around. A lazier band would be comfortable slapping a more aggressive percussion track on and calling it a day; Graphic Nature, on the other hand, find ways to seed production touches to be reinterpreted through heavier live drums on Breathe, or integrate a seamless transition into The Prodigy-style breakbeat on Fractured. You could flaunt that track alone as a reason why Graphic Nature are so far ahead of their competition—no one in their immediate field is treating metal’s vicious, volatile tendencies as well as this.
That’s not even an unexpected turn of events, either; there was precedent for that on just the previous album. What’s good, though, is how the upped profile it brought hasn’t come at the expense of effort. Regardless of whether Who You Are When No One Is Watching? is more of the same (which feels like too pejorative a term to apply, despite it largely being true), Graphic Nature haven’t been knocked back for it. If anything, it might be indicative of the sort of creative purple patch that others like them just don’t go through. In such close quarters, Graphic Nature have now come out with two killer albums, both encapsulating and iterating on the same sound and mood while being independently excellent and praiseworthy. Say what you want about the state of music like this, but at least there’s one easy flag-bearer to show the rest how it’s done.
For fans of: Slipknot, Cane Hill, Creak
‘Who Are You When No One Is Watching?’ by Graphic Nature is released on 12th July on Rude Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
