AFRAID TO DIE – Hell Is A Place In My Mind

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7.0

• Bands:
  AFRAID TO DIE
• Duration: 00:15:00
• Available from: 02/06/2026
• Label:

• The Coming Strife

A new reality on the British metal hardcore scene, Afraid To Die present themselves with an EP that leaves little doubt about their intentions: to recover the rougher and more militant spirit of a certain aggression of the late nineties and early 2000s, without however being reduced to a simple nostalgic exercise. “Hell Is A Place In My Mind” was born from the meeting between musicians with a long road behind them – some coming from experiences such as Svalbard, Morrow, Burning Skies and Devil Sold His Soul – and the general impression is that of a group that already knows perfectly how to move, without the need for long running-in phases.

More than a simple “new band”, Afraid To Die seems like the natural meeting of parallel paths, a point of convergence born to give vent to an old love for certain musical trends. The United Kingdom, after all, has never been a stranger to these sounds: just think of heavyweights like Stampin' Ground, recently back on track, to understand how much this language already belongs to the DNA of the local scene. Afraid To Die collect that legacy without turning it into a sterile cult. In the five songs on the EP you can immediately perceive an underlying familiarity: the grumpy nature, the nervous pace and the constant tempo changes refer to certain classics, with a constant tension that avoids any complacency. The lesson of a group like Turmoil emerges above all in the construction of the songs, where groove and aggression coexist in an unstable but effective balance, always ready to explode. Furthermore, what distinguishes “Hell…” is the way in which this base is made sharper through sharp riffing, often indebted to the European edge metal tradition. The references to the Belgian and Italian schools – with inevitable references to Arkangel and Reprisal – are evident and become a shared lexicon on which the band builds a credible and in its own way contemporary identity. The riffs are inspired, the tempo changes dosed with intelligence and the sound performance, modern and powerful, prevents the work from slipping into a forced revival.

The internal variety of the material is also interesting: if the assault component remains central, there is also some unexpected opening. Some guitars allow themselves fleeting atmospheric openings, as if to betray the more emotional background of part of the line-up, and these moments add depth to an EP that would otherwise risk focusing everything on immediate impact. It is precisely in this balance between urgency and breadth that Afraid To Die show an interesting maturity for a debut.
One question remains open: does the EP format represent the ideal size for concentrating ideas and inspiration, or can this combination of experience and craft also stand the test of a full-length? For now, “Hell Is A Place In My Mind” is a first direct and immediately convincing effort, capable of speaking to nostalgics of certain metalcore without sounding out of time. We'll see, but the conditions for being noticed are all there.