About Monsters Are Back – „Mad At You“ Review

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If there’s one thing I love, it’s the diversity of metal. Part of this wonderful diversity is that there are always bands that win you over with their charisma. One such band is ABOUT MONSTERS, who will release their new single Mad At You this coming Thursday. We’ve already had a sneak peek at the new song, and let me tell you: something big has happened!

A good year after the release of their album Hidden Dystopia, a lot has changed: Bianca Herrmann is now setting the tone on vocals, and ABOUT MONSTERS seem more ready than ever to embark on the arduous climb to the upper echelons of the metal Olympus. Since the lineup change, many have surely been waiting for an artistic sign of life from the quartet, which couldn’t be more perfectly timed now, just before the start of their headlining tour.

At about 3 minutes in length, Mad At You is right in line with what you’d expect from modern metal and metalcore bands. Due to its brevity, the song gets right to the point: the first, albeit shorter, breakdown comes after less than ten seconds; after 30 seconds, Bianca Herrmann showcases her vocal talent by switching from clean vocals to a harsher style; and after less than 40 seconds, the extremely catchy chorus hits your ears for the first time. The direction is clear: 100% power, whatever the cost!

The song excels in three truly key areas: 1. vocal performance, 2. production, and 3. masterful songwriting. To avoid getting too far ahead of the content set to be released during the tour, I’ll keep my comments on the vocal performance brief: Bianca Herrmann is one of the most talented singers whose voice has found its way into my ears, and the vocal talent she brings to ABOUT MONSTERS enriches the band immensely. In Mad At You, she showcases the full range of her abilities, and it’s a true joy to hear!

The fact that we get to hear so much from Bianca all at once is likely due primarily to the second point in my previous list. The single was produced by Christoph Wieczorek (ANNISOKAY) at his studio, Sawdust Recordings. You’d have to have completely slept through or ignored the entire modern metal and metalcore scene not to know which big-name bands have already found their way to his studio. What specifically excites me about Mad At You is that they’ve found a perfectly balanced way to showcase the band’s strengths while challenging them enough to push them beyond their limits. If the upcoming releases are anything like this, a true sonic feast awaits us! (Not to mention that the sound quality is bombastic!)

But even a good producer can hardly make up for the worst songwriting, which brings us to my third point. With Mad At You, ABOUT MONSTERS seems to have broken through a barrier that was still evident in their previous releases. Mad At You is more versatile and cohesive, without betraying the band’s DNA. The song feels more liberated and is simply fun because you can tell that ABOUT MONSTERS have the courage to try something new. Lyrically, Bianca screams out exactly the kind of aggression you feel when you realize that the person for whom you would have done anything is ultimately only standing in the way of themselves—and thus also of your shared happiness. Just how much pain must lie in the lines “I’m not mad at you/ I know that you can’t just figure it out” when you grasp the hopelessness of the situation and yet also possess the magnanimity to forgive the person in question, in a certain sense?

Overall, Mad At You is exactly the bang that everyone expects from ABOUT MONSTERS, and anyone who loves catchy yet hard-hitting songs won’t be disappointed by Mad At You on Friday.