Future classic – review of AXTY’s “Hannya”

Formed in the midst of the pandemic, circa 2021, it is undeniable that Brazilian metalcore outfit AXTY have been one of the fastest-rising names in the genre, having reached the mammoth mark of over 5 million streams and having cracked out a deal with Outono Music – a subsidiary of Universal – since then. After having played on major stages across Latin America (noticeably having been one of the attractions of Summer Breeze Brazil’s Waves Stage), even opening for deathcore giants Chelsea Grin they return to their original sound with their third studio album, “Hannya”, which is sure to make waves not only in their home country of Brazil, but in the global “-core” scene as a whole. In spite of all the recent success they have seen, everything related to production, be it audio or video, is still done completely in-house by the band members.

Openers “Mugen” and “Take Me Down” perfectly set the scene for what is to come, with both displaying the textbook mixture of punching riffs and soaring choruses that reign over the album’s 12 tracks. “Relaxing Nature Sounds”, on the other hand, indirectly shows how much the band truly studied their fans and how truly prepared they were for this release, being quite short, clocking in at less than two minutes, but being incredibly straight to the point, with no clean singing and many nasty breakdowns peppered through – quite the opposite of relaxing nature sounds. Another track from the front half of “Hannya” that deserves to be highlighted is “Emptiness Within”, featuring guest vocals from Taylor Barber (of Left to Suffer, Seven Hours After Violet and Project Vengeance fame). Not only is it yet another incredibly solid track, but is also incorporates elements from Brazilian funk, which is another genre on the rise lately, but that has nothing to do with metal. Something in the writing, in the riffs, just makes it clear that this song was thought specifically to be the lead single, deservedly so. Not only that, but it also transitions seamlessly into the next track, “We’ll be Back After a Short Break”.

It may seem counterintuitive to devote almost a paragraph of this review to a song that is quite literally meant to be a short break in the middle of the album, being incredibly low stakes and featuring basically no singing, but it is also the perfect track to evidence the insane amount of thought that went into the sequencing of “Hannya”. While it is far from being a concept album, all of the songs feed into each other perfectly, with some even connecting, transitioning perfectly. This not only makes the album a real album, and not only just a glorified playlist (as many modern releases feel nowadays), but also gives the listener the sensation of being deeply immersed, as if they were watching a live set. “We’ll be Back” serves not only as a well-placed opportunity for a break for AXTY themselves during a gig, but also a breather for the listeners, which (in the context of the album) would be about to experience one of the heaviest tracks of all, “Fade Away”, which also transitions seemingly from the break, with an “idea for a riff” being proposed and sung at the end, turning into the main riff of “Fade”.

The back half of “Hannya” is also composed of hit after hit, with not only “Fade Away”, but also “Fall Again”, a sure-fire internet sensation, following suit. “Fall Again” is the perfect playlist track, starting off with a trap beat, catching the attention of non-metal listeners, having an amazing breakdown, groovy, catchy riffs, another soaring chorus, but ending off with some of the most genius lyrics known to man; “if your dog poops, you must scoop, their ain’t no poop fairy”. “Flowers and Butterflies Lullaby” is also perfectly engineered to catch the attention of those endlessly scrolling Instagram and TikTok feeds, with the band and song being introduced at the start by an AI voice, followed by an “UwU”, sure to get a laugh out of some listeners. Closers “Six Feet Under” and “Save Me” encapsulate AXTY’s sonic premise perfectly, both working mostly within established tropes, but executing them masterfully, with the former being focused on cleans and the more melancholic, catchy side of metalcore, while the latter tends to go more into the aggressive and abrasive side of things.

At the end of the day, “Hannya” is far from being a reinvention of metalcore, but it is clear that AXTY was not in this to revolutionize the style, but instead, to present a clear evolution of it. While it is chock-full of cliches which some may consider worn-out and overdone, there is no doubt that they worked around them with expert precision, putting out a final product that is 35 minutes of textbook modern metal, incredibly executed modern metal. Along the album, keen listeners will be quick to notice the hours of study and planning that surely went into the release, as AXTY evidently know their crowd very well, not being afraid to experiment with less serious, more comical samples and song titles, also securing features with major names in the “-core” sphere and working with notable influencers on social media. Given the excellent quality of the music and the fact that they not only are set to play to big crowds with major names such as Falling in Reverse, Killswitch Engage and Escape the Fate still this year and are already signed to one of the big 3 labels, AXTY is all set to be the future of metalcore, with this third studio album being one of the first major leaps towards that.