While She Sleeps

While She Sleeps

While She Sleeps is a metalcore band from Sheffield, United Kingdom, active since 2006. The group’s line-up includes Lawrence Taylor on vocals, Sean Long and Mat Welsh on guitar, Aaran Mckenzie on bass and Adam Savage on drums, with Jordan Widdowson also listed among the members.

Style and influences

The band’s music sits in melodic metalcore, metalcore and post-hardcore. Their sound uses down-tuned guitars, heavy bass, screaming vocals and fast drumming, and also brings in melodic guitar parts and piano sections. They are also described as metallic hardcore. The group names Thrice, Slipknot, Foo Fighters, Underoath, Refused, Comeback Kid, Gallows and Alexisonfire among its influences.

Recordings and recognition

While She Sleeps releases music through Search and Destroy Records in the UK, The End Records in the US and Shock Records in Australia. Their debut mini-album, The North Stands for Nothing, appears in 2010 and helps build a larger following. Their first studio album, This Is the Six, follows in 2012. The band wins Best British Newcomer at the Kerrang! Awards in 2012 and also receives praise from the UK music press.

Sound and development

The band keeps a heavy core sound rather than changing it drastically between releases, while combining heaviness with melody. That balance between intensity and melody is a recurring feature of their work.