ALBUM REVIEW: Fit For An Autopsy – ‘The Nothing That Is’

If there’s a word that comes to mind when assessing the state of modern deathcore, it’s ‘stagnant.’ For the past five years or so, it feels as if there’s some sort of ‘who can copy Lorna Shore the best’ competition going on, and it’s turned the grand majority of the genre into horrendously unlistenable slop. That is with the exception of a select few bands, with veterans Fit For An Autopsy being the prime example of modern deathcore excellence.

Few bands have dared to challenge the deathcore genre like Fit For An Autopsy. Since the band’s earlier years, they’ve been pushing boundaries and stepping outside of the box with their unique brand of intricate songwriting. Whether it be the moody Ghosts In The River, the hauntingly gorgeous Empty Still, or the stomping, mountainous Far From Heaven, Fit For An Autopsy have been no strangers to experimenting with the shackles of an otherwise rigid subgenre, somehow always managing to churn out hits in the process. Now, in what seems like the blink of an eye, we are now on the horizon of the seventh Fit For An Autopsy album The Nothing That Is being released into the world. With the band’s history of greatness, surely this release will also be great, right? Well…let’s talk about that for a minute, shall we?

Let’s get one thing straight right off the rip: The Nothing That Is isn’t a bad album. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, I do believe it is a good album. With that being said, I can’t help but feel slightly disappointed and fairly frustrated with The Nothing That Is. The reason for this being, of course, the band’s history of extremely high quality and differentiation. In the context of Fit For An Autopsy’s discography, The Nothing That Is is just significantly less memorable than the rest of the bunch. I mean, I’ve listened to this album several times, and I still have to go back and listen to certain songs just to remember what they sound like. For example, in this moment of writing, I cannot recall a single moment that happens on the album’s titular track, The Nothing That Is. The same goes for Lust For The Severed Head, despite having one of the most kickass titles I’ve ever heard.

The problem here is that historically, Fit For An Autopsy have done such an excellent job at differentiating their albums from one another and pulling new strings of experimentation with each release. 2015’s Absolute Hope Absolute Hell separated itself from its more traditional Deathcore predecessors by leaning into the atmospherics and moodiness of that era’s iteration of metalcore. 2017’s The Great Collapse took this a step further, leaning into elements of melodic death metal and playing with odd song structures. 2019’s The Sea of Tragic Beasts took Fit For An Autopsy’s sound in a darker, gloomier direction with more intricate instrumental arrangements, highlighted by subtle, reverby guitar leads. 2022’s Oh What The Future Holds saw the band going back to their roots, with the batch of songs being heavier and more ‘deathcore.’

Whereas, on The Nothing That Is, there just doesn’t really seem to be any significant or notable tonality shifts that make the album stand out in any way, with the songs feeling just a bit generic for the band. Let me emphasize, generic for Fit For An Autopsy; not for the genre of music in which they reside.

That being said, there are some moments of greatness on this record that should be notated. Lead single Hostage just might be one of the band’s best songs, with its gnarled, venomous riffage coalescing perfectly with a melancholic, clean-sung chorus, which features one of the most gorgeous vocal melodies ever featured in a Fit For An Autopsy song. Every sector of this song just meshes so perfectly with one another, being a true marvel of Will Putney’s masterful songwriting capabilities.

On the contrary, Spoils Of The Horde is just a ridiculously over-the-top heavy cut, with a barrage of cutting chugs all crescendoing into a gargantuan end-breakdown that will leave your jaw on the floor. The song proves that despite being one of few band’s in their genre to feature true singing in their songs, they still absolutely have the ability to also be one of the heaviest bands around.

Red Horizon is a magnificent standout on both the instrumental and lyrical front, being a heavy-handed condemnation of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Palestine. It’s been a while since a lyric has stuck with me quite like “the bodies burned so bright that God closed his eyes.” There are fantastic lyrical nuggets all over The Nothing That Is, but this one hits particularly hard given the constant horrifying headlines emerging from the Middle East over the course of the past year. On the instrumental front, the guitars on Red Horizon are downright eerie and lingering, vocalist Joe Badolato’s performance is emotive and gripping, and the drums hit with the weight of an oncoming freight train. All in all, this cut in particular is an easy standout amongst the rest of the album.

However, outside of these three songs, I just don’t find myself coming back to this album much, if at all. Even the album’s closer The Silver Sun leaves me with little to nothing, despite being a massive fan of Fit For An Autopsy’s past finales. I mean, The Travelers and The Man That I Was Not are two of the best deathcore songs ever written, and that’s not an exaggeration.

That being said, the most frustrating aspect of The Nothing That Is by far is its horrifically sloppy, shallow mix. Don’t get it twisted; this album is indeed mixed and produced by legendary metal producer Will Putney, who also happens to be the band’s guitarist. However, this one was an absolute miss for him. The record just feels lifeless in terms of its sound, lacking the depth, warmth, and edge of the typical Putney album. The chugs lack oomph, the guitars are muddy and abrasively tangled with one another, and the drums hit with the ferocity of a wet fart. The only facet of the album’s mix that actually sounds good is Joe Badolato’s vocals. This makes for an incredibly unfulfilling and unimpactful listening experience, and greatly reduced any replayability that the record might have had.

With that all being said, I take no pleasure in dogging on The Nothing That Is so much. Fit For An Autopsy have been one of my favorite bands for years, and for the most part, the album does overall lean good. However, it’s not the question of “is it good / bad?” that makes the album such a disappointment, but the sheer mammoth of consistency that is Fit For An Autopsy’s back catalog. The band are constantly producing nothing but quality output, and are constantly re-inventing themselves with each and every release, and that just isn’t present on The Nothing That Is. While the album might end up on the lesser end of my personal discography ranking, I do have high hopes for the future of Fit For An Autopsy, and remain highly excited for whatever is to come next.

For fans of: Thy Art Is Murder, Aversions Crown, Enterprise Earth

‘The Nothing That Is’ by Fit For An Autopsy is released on 25th October on Nuclear Blast Records.

Words by Hunter Hewgley