Band:	A Wake In Providence
Album:	I Write To You, My Darling Decay
Style:	Deathcore
Release date:	July 2024
A review by:	musclassia

01. The Maddening
02. Mournful Benediction [feat. Ben Duerr]
03. Agony, My Familiar
04. Agonofinis
05. And Through The Fog She Spoke
06. In Whispers
07. I Write To You, My Darling Decay
08. The Unbound
09. Pareidolia
10. I, The Mournful

Symphonic deathcore has become quite the trend in the past decade, not least due to the soaring popularity of acts such as Lorna Shore. While this success has naturally spawned numerous imitators, it’s arguably as fascinating to see this popularization reflected in the trajectories of these pioneering groups’ peers.

Having formed in the same year as Lorna Shore, A Wake In Providence started out as a band with a deathcore sound that required no further adjectives be added to the genre category. After several EPs (and a brief stint in the band from future Lorna Shore frontman Will Ramos), the group finally made the step to full debut status in 2019 with The Blvck Sun // The Blood Moon; while A Wake In Providence apparently referred to themselves at this stage as blackened deathcore, the album felt fairly rigidly bound to the by-now well-established classic deathcore template. However, 2019 and 2020 saw the release of albums such as Melancholy and Immortal, and by the time of A Wake In Providence’s sophomore effort Eternity, some light symphonic dalliances were beginning to appear. Still, those were nothing compared to what the group have accomplished on I Write To You, My Darling Decay.

At a round hour in length, this is a substantial body of music, and it’s also quite an expansive and ambitious one. From the off, it is apparent that the orchestrations have been expanded upon, with a layered strings/piano introduction to the opening track “The Maddening”, while the symphonics now also exist alongside the metal rather than being generally confined to interlude passages. It now also feels a bit more apt to bring the ‘blackened’ descriptor into play when this song erupts with a shriek above tremolo riffing and rolling double bass percussion. Clean vocals could be found on The Blvck Sun // The Blood Moon and Eternity, but take on a more prominent role this time around, trading off frequently with growls (and that’s not even mentioning the operatic female vocals that make occasional but impactful appearances). Conversely, the heavy reliance on breakdowns across their previous records to date has been scaled down substantially, with A Wake In Providence prioritizing quality over quantity in their delivery of emphatic, exciting breakdowns.

With this renewed shift in focus, ably demonstrated throughout “The Maddening”, A Wake In Providence have moved away from their more humble deathcore origins, and in turn have shifted not only towards peers such as Shadow Of Intent (whose Ben Duerr guests on “Mournful Benediction”), Kardashev and Ovid's Withering, but also more progressive acts such as Slice The Cake, and arguably even Wilderun in moments. It’s a remarkable transformation, and although my opinion may be biased by the style gravitating more towards my own personal interests, I do think that it is a positive evolution for the group. The mixture of intensity, flamboyance and melody, all shrouded in this slight sombre, poetic aura, really hits the mark, and the contrast of Duerr gutturals with the combination of soaring clean and operatic vocals on “Mournful Benediction” makes a strong impression.

When pitting the album against similar records from recent years, I’d say it lacks the ultimate memorability of Shadow Of Intent’s Elegy, but one could argue that the trade-off is that the record is instead able to focus on crafting a haunting, eerie atmosphere somewhat akin to Kardashev’s Liminal Rite. There’s merits to each approach, and there are still tracks here that make a considerable impact. A particularly grandiose coalescence of the band’s different elements is “And Through The Fog She Spoke”, which at different times delivers delicate piano melodies, as well as soulful singing in the chorus, yet also features electric technical riffing, and breakdowns that trade blows of earth-shaking chugs with symphonic bombast.

The album is too dense to delve extensively into every song, so I’ll round out by highlighting one more song, the title track. Many of the songs here, while featuring various elements, tend to bring them together in very similar ways, but “I Write To You, My Darling Decay” is comfortable in slowing things down for large stretches, reveling in gloom and bleakness, which gives more impact to the moments in which blast beats and more rampant energy are brought forth.

There is still room for A Wake In Providence to grow in writing more memorable and meaningful melodic parts, and also in developing variability between songs, but considering where they’ve come from, I Write To You, My Darling Decay is a major step forward that should be congratulated.