London band False Reality have honed a thrilling thrash, hardcore and metal-inspired sound that’s seen them quickly become of the most exciting new bands in the UK’s heavy music scene.
The quartet of Rachel Rigby (vocals), Dave Connolly (guitar), Joe Cornwell (bass), and Louis Dale (drums) met while attending hardcore shows over the last 15 years, coming together to release their first music last year. They’ve since released a series of singles leading up to their debut album Path Of Self Destruct, which was released in April.
And they describe the sound they’ve created as: “A lot of two-stepping, a lot of guitar solos and a lot of breakdowns” with a whole host of “face-melting riffs.”
Path Of Self Destruct lures us in with a largely instrumental intro that starts out slowly and crescendos into crushing riffs under a funky riff. A huge breakdown leads us nicely into Pay The Reaper, which begins with stabs of guitar and rolling drums dropping into a breakneck opening verse. The intense vocals continue and chugging guitars support the line “In for a penny, out for a pound” before a big cry of “Pay the reaper.” Delicious chugging guitars continue, before the pace drops and Rachel’s huge vocals take over, the guitars drop out before a wild guitar solo leads a heavy conclusion. Check it out in the visualiser video here:
That’s followed by the equally powerful Comeback, which sees big booming guitars and drums supporting Rachel’s intense vocals before being joined by a piercing guitar solo. Next up is the album’s lead single Pressure, which begins with wild high-pitched sounds and a building guitar dropping into a delicious rhythmic riff. Huge vocals take over with chugging guitar support, and a piercing guitar solo sets up another big verse. Suddenly, the pace drops with guitar noises and a bubbling bass, with lighter vocals repeating “bleed the pressure to feel something,” before exploding back into life with a violent conclusion. Check it out in the video here:
There’s a mellow moment in the more shoegaze-inspired To One Far Away, which builds up to crushing guitar chords and piercing guitar sounds alongside brutal screamed vocals. Big rolling drums open up and really cool harmonic stabs open up the Chained which, ironically, sounds brilliantly unchained. Midway through it drops into chugging guitars that are joined by Rachel’s powerful vocals, before a big solo takes over. Engaging vocals return alongside some huge riffs, and more rolling drums come in to set up a vicious outro.
The EP signs out in style with the excellent Opposites React, which launches straight into a driving riff and drums supporting fast-paced vocals. Higher-pitched guitars jump in before powerful vocals in collaboration with Jem from Australian band Speed, before a huge breakdown of big chugging guitars. Check out the album closer in the video here:
On the EP, Rachel told us: “We really weren’t expecting it to pop off the way it has. We’re so grateful and we are so excited to see what else is in store for us and to create more music. Obviously we now have a lot of expectation to try to live up to, but we’re ready for the challenge. We incorporated a lot of influences from a variety of our favourite genres in the EP, so expect to hear influences of thrash, New York Hardcore, shoegaze and metal.
“This EP feels like home to us. We have each got such a varied taste and a huge appreciation for so many genres within heavy music, so this has allowed us to create our own sound by pulling in all influences of what made us want to start a band to begin with. It delves into a wide range of emotions, such as coping with the loss of a loved one, feeling unheard, and being underestimated. We’ve put our souls into this, and it’s already inspired us to create whatever will come next.”
The False Reality sound is particularly inspired by bands like Deftones, Metallica, Backtrack and Mindforce. And on what inspires them to write music, Rachel told us: “Honestly, when I write lyrics, I won’t actually understand where the words or thoughts are coming from at the time. Then it will be a couple of weeks later and something will click and I’ll be like ‘Oh! I didn’t realise I was writing about that and that’s how it made me feel.’
“So what you’re hearing in every song is my subconscious actually trying to make sense of my emotions before I’ve even acknowledged them in my day-to-day. It crosses over themes of not feeling heard, feeling misunderstood and times of feeling underestimated.”
Path To Self Destruct is an absolute banger of a record, and it’s out now on Hassle Records. False Reality just sold out a headline show at The Black Heart and played their first overseas shows over in France in mid-December. And you won’t have long to wait to see them again as the band has their biggest tour yet coming across the UK in April. There’s also new music coming very soon, as they’ll be finishing up writing and recording a new album in the next few months, with the aim of releasing it towards the end of 2025.
And Rachel added: “It’s a huge honour and privilege to be doing what we’re doing. Big up to every DIY promoter and every band who is actively keeping hardcore alive.”
You can follow False Reality on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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