RELEASES

“Idleness is the devil’s workshop” is a proverb that Belgium’s REJECT THE SICKNESS loathes with an intensity that matches their music. The 2018 release of “THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE” not only opened new doors, it also announced a time of changes. The welcoming of two new members, bassist Jonas Messiaen and lead guitarist Zoran Van Bellegem, was the most crucial one.

Secondly, REJECT THE SICKNESS tore down their trusted Clean And Dirty studio and this brand-new EP “THE NEW CHAPTER” is the last ever recording in that studio. It’s symbolic for the musical content of the three new songs. With this EP, REJECT THE SICKNESS is reshaping their music and their future and like the song titles suggest; they needed to push the RESET button and DISCONNECT partially from their past.

“THE NEW CHAPTER” was composed with a lot of input from Zoran Van Bellegem. While the result sounds 100% REJECT THE SICKNESS, this EP functions as a coming of age ritual during which the band shaped their distinct sound. Gone is the yoke of explaining their sound through the obligatory name throwing of bands that inspired them as well as any past associations with metalcore. The typical melody and signature tempo shifts of the early nineties melodic Swedish death metal still shine through in a select amount of sequences, yet they are no longer a purpose on to themselves. The bottom line: REJECT THE SICKNESS rebranding their sound into a lethal cocktail of death and thrash metal that endorses both efficiently located melody and a new-found dimension of aggression and grimness tightly conspiring with a deadly dynamic created through razor-sharp breaks and a bigger emphasis on speed. The result is an outspoken militant and mechanical atmosphere which easily competes with Fear Factory and Strapping Young Lad without ever copying them.