Review: Today Is The Day ‘Never Give In’
’It’s a way of life and one that is necessary in these dystopian and dark days we live in. I can’t give in; I can’t give up. As long as I have love in my heart, I’m your worst enemy.’ – Steve Austin
It was a very different world when we last heard from Today Is The Day’s driving force Steve Austin. In 2020, the band would drop their eleventh album, the brooding No Good To Anyone, just before the mass lockdowns that would cancel the band’s touring plans and plunge the world into a new reality.
The five years since have seen the aggression of corporations become brazen and naked. The rise of authoritarianism and the disconnection between all levels of society take a visible toll as the twenty-four-hour news cycle further strains and fatigues people’s already fragile mental health.
For someone who has spent years dissecting depression, anger, and man’s inhumanity towards itself through molten metal and avant-garde noise-rock, this period conspired to push Austin to breaking point. In a bid to regain some semblance of self-control, the man who likes to hurt himself would set about tackling this new, dark dystopia by feeding his thoughts and fears through the thresher that is Today Is The Day.
Whenever he has felt cornered, Austin has focused and fought back through his music. Whether it is the fearlessly pioneering Relapse Records released classic Temple Of The Morning Star, or the sprawling mass of ambition that was the two and a half hour long Sadness Will Prevail double album, redefining extreme music along the way. His answer to this recent tumultuous period is a two-part concept album, the first instalment Never Give In, and an as yet unnamed second chapter to follow in early 2026, that serves as ‘a warning’, ‘an awakening’ and a statement of defiance in the face of corruption and manipulation.
The robotic chug of Divide And Conquer slithers out of the speaker with a heavy, machine-like, industrial feel. Austin’s voice is echoing and effect-laden, layered in multiple differing voices, creating an unsettling split personality. This dancing, delirious feel will permeate much of what is to come over the next forty-seven minutes as Today Is The Day don’t attack you directly like some of the more acerbic, violent noise of their earlier output. Here, they sidle up to you and almost subliminally invade your consciousness with twisted melodies and mantras like ‘Look what you’ve done to me, you’re my religion’ whilst razor sharp riffs stick a knife in your ribs.
This twitching, warped take on electro-pop has shades of gothic-tinged acts like The Cure or even Nine Inch Nails on I Got Nothin’. The self-loathing is front and centre in the lyrics; Austin has always been unafraid to bare his soul and tackle the discourse on mental health with unflinching honesty. Here, the heavy, drug fugue feel continues like a marionette robotically jerking its way to an uncertain conclusion. The repeated mantras of the music over the buzz of the guitar continually add to the sinister edge, even if the opening tracks feel muted by comparison to previous works.
a bold and defiant album that sees Austin redesign his band once more to produce nine tracks that flex and mutate…
For those wishing for more of the unhinged violence of old, Never Give Instill delivers. Intentional Psychological Warfare snaps and rages, the howling rasps of the vocals collide with the tumbling, atonal exposition of the jarring guitar tones. Even when they lock into a ‘60s pop rock grooving feel, a time and directional switch that scratches at your brain is never far away.
Similarly, the jazz like Secret Police throws horns, sawing riffs and a Mariachi-like detour into the mix with brass and snarling vocals. It is this fractured personality that keeps the album moving in a constant struggle of styles. The title track itself is a luscious, stripped-down lament that descends from a gorgeous guitar tone to a crazy Willy Wonka type narration; the acoustic swing grows disjointed and disturbed with the nagging ‘I can’t find it’ repetition.
Psychic Wound is a particularly scarring entry that is designed to set your teeth on edge. The vocals explode from the slow, deliberate spoken word into feral screaming that seems to erupt from the darkest recesses of the mind. This feel is also echoed in the faster-paced The Choice Is Yours, which invokes the melodic pummelling of earlier. Like The Ramones on a downer from the wrong sort of drugs, the duelling personalities of the vocals complement the off-kilter harmonies. Gabbling voices try to lull you into a soothing cadence, but one half appears to be sliding into madness, fixated by possibility, but dragged down by reality.
Pain And Frustration is a deranged number. Austin, who handles guitar, vocals, and electronics, also extensively used a Moog Sub37 on Never Give In. Here it comes into full effect on this subversive ‘70s disco funk as the demon-on-the-shoulder voice crawls underneath the clean attempts at reassurance.
The album ends with a nod to the folk/country twang that reared its head in earlier moments, like the title track. The Cleansingtalks of suicide in melancholy vocals that drip with vulnerability and yearning. They show that for all the pent-up bile and spite that is vomited forth from Today Is The Day, it remains a cathartic vehicle for Austin to move past his demons, railing against the injustice he perceives.
Ultimately, Never Give In is only half the picture of this release, and the ending leaves us with the melancholic, unsatisfied conclusion of staring out of the medical ship at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, wondering what the future holds. However, it is a bold and defiant album that sees Austin redesign his band once more to produce nine tracks that flex and mutate in a way that fans of the already difficult to define act may find draining, alien or utterly captivating.
Label: SuperNova Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Mark Hunt-Bryden
