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Album Review: Sleeping with Sirens avoids ‘Complete Collapse’ on stellar new record

Sleeping with Sirens is once again asking us if anyone out there is listening- and for more than a decade, we’ve kept our ears to the ground for all of their new music. Now the prolific rock group is back with their latest album, Complete Collapse. 

The band has a tried and true sound and they’re not out to reinvent themselves on this record- and that’s not a bad thing. The guitars are heavier in a throwback to their early albums and you can already feel the neck pain from the inevitable headbanging the songs will inspire. Singer Kellin Quinn is front and center with his signature stratospheric vocals and a surprising amount of screaming interspersed throughout. 

Complete Collapse illustrates the main theme interwoven throughout the album, which is one of depression anthems for the downtrodden, the “Apathetic” and even the vengeful. Opening with “Tyrants”, we have a record with a vendetta before getting into the material for the emos that make up the majority of the band’s core audience.

SWS enlisted some top tier scene talent for the features, adding newcomer Charlotte Sands on the relatable (if not a little on the nose) “Let You Down”. They also brought in Royal & the Serpent and Dorothy- some of the best female talent in rock- for some hard-hitting verses in the middle of the album. Underoath’s Spencer Chamberlain lends his metal influence to “Crosses” as well.

With mental health being at the forefront of so many discussions in and outside of the industry, this topic has long bled into the band’s music- you can never claim that they don’t know their listeners when writing songs like “Ctrl + Alt + Del” and the jaunty acoustic closer “Grave”.

What we love about SWS is their commitment to providing the bangers for all the sadboys (and girls and theys) to scream at their endless tour stops. Finally we have a band with serious consistency between albums- Complete Collapse is a rock solid addition to a once shaky discography and we’re excited to see “Bloody Knuckles” added into future setlists.

Stream Complete Collapse, out now! 

Story by Olivia Khiel
Photo credit: Nick Stafford