Sleeping With Sirens Deliver Best Album Since 2011 With ‘An Ending In Itself’

Scene veterans Sleeping with Sirens have returned with their eighth studio album, ‘An Ending In Itself’. This marks their first release since their most recent record, ‘Complete Collapse’, back in 2022. This marks a return to form for the band, as they embrace once again more of the post-hardcore sound they started with on their first couple of albums. It also dives across their whole discography, picking the sounds they’ve adapted over the years.

The post-hardcore vibes are very felt on this album, specifically on songs like the title track, “Forever/Always”, and “Looking Back at Me”. It’s a sound that made this band so endeared to many of the scene, and it feels nostalgic hearing them tap back into this kind of sound. I think the guitar from Nick Martin really shines when they embrace that again, since his leads really carry a lot of that vibe back into the spotlight. They also haven’t lost a step when it comes to writing catchy hooks and huge choruses. Songs like “God In My Head”, “Need You Here”, and “Process” are perfect examples of just how tapped in they are to making a song memorable. The drums are also quite the standout on this album, as Matty Best really has fun with a lot of these parts and carries the energy from these songs really well. 

Vocalist Kellin Quinn does a great job on this record of keeping the energy alive and using his vocal range to what fits the song best. Some of the melodies on this record might be some of their best to date, it’s pretty wild to see. It makes sense why Kellin has always been brought up within the scene, because his voice continues to feel iconic and crucial to the scene. I love them tapping mostly into their heavy side with a song like “Paralyzed”, it’s not fully new for them but it makes for a pretty fun track and maybe the best breakdown on the record. “Waiting for You” feels like my personal favorite among all these tracks, since it feels like it showcases the best qualities of this band and what I look for when I listen to them. The closing track, “Storm Clouds”, also feels like a fitting sing-along type track to end this record. And it captures the vibe of its gloomy type of album artwork as well. 

All in all, I feel like ‘An Ending In Itself’ is the best Sleeping with Sirens record since 2011’s ‘Let’s Cheers to This’. It really feels like not only did they tap into what made them special so long ago, but they included their best qualities over the years to deliver an incredibly solid album. Identity is something this band has gone back and forth on over the years, but I feel they’ve found a really strong one on this record for the career they’ve had.