Throughout their career, Stray From The Path have approached their music as they’ve approached their left-wing politics – no-nonsense, in your face, and minimal fuss. So it comes to pass with their surprise new album Clockworked, which coincided with their announcement that they will be breaking up as a band at the end of 2025.
The innovators of nu-metalcore have followed a familiar formula throughout their release history. The songs sound similar, without ever blurring or becoming boring. This is no different on Clockworked, where the band serve up blistering fast-paced hardcore, alongside breakdown-heavy metalcore, and sludgy nu-metal.
Lead single Kubrick Stare sets the tone with scathing political commentary. It tackles genocide, the relentless news cycle, and the general state of everything. Rather than an apathetic groan, it’s an opening salvo. A raging burst of hardcore flying in the face of global tragedy and political corruption. Quintessential Stray From The Path and an accurate synopsis for the album.
Following up Fuck Them All To Hell sticks to very similar lyrical topics of political dissatisfaction, but the music slows down ever so slightly, from relentless blasts to a mere pummelling. Sonically, this is very much on the nu-metal side of things, demonstrating the sound that the band helped create.
Shot Caller is a call-to-arms, a battle cry for the downtrodden to fight back against oppressors across the world. The target is not as explicit as lyrics in previous Stray From The Path tracks, but the metallic riffs and breakdowns add a direct punch to frontman Andrew “Drew York” Dijorio’s bark.
Mixing things up slightly, Can’t Help Myself begins with a subdued, almost RnB-esque bassline. Indeed, Dijorio’s singing at the beginning of this song resembles traditional hip-hop, rather than hardcore. However, it’s a nice juxtaposition with the earlier tracks on the album, especially when the chorus kicks in with a classic, almost Limp-Bizkit or Korn sounding guitar riff. The band’s nu-metal influence shines through here, and their unwillingness to shy away from what could potentially be seen as an uncool or dated sound is what makes them truly unique in the world of hardcore.
The album’s title track, featuring vocals from LANDMVRKS, is another slab of muddy nu-metal. The intro features a robotic refrain of “don’t think, don’t fucking question”, which quickly gives way to Dijorio’s fury. Anthony “Dragon Neck” Altamura’s bass playing here is noteworthy – anchoring everything down with a sleazy groove while Dijorio and LANDMVRKS frontman Florent Salfati issue barrages of pleasingly scattergun yelps.
Shocker is another track that sounds like stereotypical Stray From The Path in the best possible way. Craig Reynolds’ blast beats are as tight and vicious as ever; Thomas Williams’ guitar jumps between pounding power chords and wailing bridges and Dijorio intersperses his political ire with the trademark “Bleurgh!” Again, for any other band, this could be seen as a criticism. For Stray From The Path, this is just evidence of high standards being maintained.
Conversely, Bodies in the Dark leans further into turn of the century nu-metal than would be expected. A slow, quiet electronic drum beat, followed by samples and Dijorio shrieking in the distance is almost reminiscent of Coal Chamber. It’s heavy, slow and referencing laying bodies to rest. Sure, the politics here are thinly veiled, but when Poison the Well’s Jeffrey Moreira starts to croon over the electronic samples, it could easily be a gothic rock band, rather than a hardcore group. It’s creepy, unsettling but undeniably excellent.
Following this interlude, the band jump back into the angry, chunky hardcore with Can I Have Your Autograph?. The chorus is a singalong highlight, and the breakdowns are filthy. A total tonal swing, but it absolutely works.
You’re Not That Guy follows in very much the same vein. Dijorio rages about how “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” It’s angry political hardcore at its absolute best.
The album is rounded out by A Life in Four Chapters, and it also sees the band rounding out their career. The lyrics reference “the lighthouse – 22 years adrift”, famously, the band’s logo and the length of their career. It also gives a hint to the reason for the band calling it a day with “Our lives on the line, how can we balance it? How can we balance it?” With 22 years of raging against corrupt elites, and those corrupt elites seemingly getting more and more powerful over that time, maybe the fight has gone from them. However, if the band are going down, they’re going down swinging, and they rage against the dying light with the refrain “Give peace a chance? It never stood a chance.” It’s a bittersweet, yet poignant sign-off, from a band who railed against a corrupt system until the last.
And, ultimately, that sums up this final record. It’s appropriate as it sounds like quintessential Stray From The Path. It’s brilliant because this band never go less than 110%. It’s bittersweet, as although they feel like they may not have changed the world, they definitely changed it for their fanbase, and their absence will be keenly missed in the scene. A fitting – if unfortunate – sign-off.
8/10
Standout Tracks: Kubric Stare, Clockworked, Bodies in the Dark
For Fans Of: Never Ending Game, Pain Of Truth, Korn
Written by: Tom Forrester
