''Beautiful Oblivion'' is the third and final studio album by American

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

band Issues, released on October 4, 2019, on

Rise Records Rise Records is an American record label currently based in Beaverton, Oregon, mainly focusing on alternative rock, heavy metal, and punk rock music artists. History Rise was founded in 1991 by Craig Ericson in Nevada City, California. He relea ...

. It serves as a follow-up to their second studio album, ''

Headspace Headspace may refer to: Science and technology * Headspace gas chromatography, a technique in analytical chemistry * Headspace or ullage, the unfilled space in a container * Headspace technology, the gaseous constituents of a closed space abo ...

'' (2016) and was produced by

Howard Benson Howard Michael Benson (born July 20, 1956) is an American record producer from Havertown, Pennsylvania. He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2007 and 2008, among two wins and 16 total nominati ...

. The album showcases the group's progression of experimenting with other musical styles and influences, using elements of

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

and

djent Djent () is a subgenre of progressive metal, termed for an onomatopoeia of the guitar sound that characterizes it. While sources such as ''The Guardian'' and ''Guitar World'' describe djent as a Music genre, genre, some notable musicians includi ...

, and influences of

neo-soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contem ...

, R&B,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

. Less than a year following the album's release, lead singer

Tyler Carter Derek Tyler Carter (born December 30, 1991) is an American musician from Habersham County, Georgia. He was the lead vocalist and founding member of the metalcore band Issues (2012–2020). Carter began his music career as a drummer in local At ...

was fired in relation to allegations of sexual misconduct; the band later announced in late 2023 that they would be breaking up following three farewell shows in 2024. The album was supported by three singles: "

Tapping Out A submission, also called a "tap out" is a combat sports term for yielding to the opponent, resulting in an immediate defeat. A submission is often performed by visibly tapping the floor or opponent with the hand or foot, or by verbalizing to the o ...

", "Drink About It" and "Flexin'". To promote the album, the band toured as support on American rock band

I Prevail I Prevail is an American rock band formed in Southfield, Michigan, in 2013. They released their debut EP '' Heart vs. Mind'' (2014) and rose to popularity from releasing a metal cover of Taylor Swift's " Blank Space" as a single, which eventua ...

's '' Trauma'' North American tour and embarked on a headlining 2019 world tour in the US and UK. After ''

'' (2016), Issues began writing sessions for their third studio album. On January 4, 2018, it was revealed that the group had parted ways with original member and unclean vocalist Michael Bohn, thus making the band a four-piece moving forward. Guitarist AJ Rebollo and bass guitarist Skyler Acord subsequently took over screaming vocal duties for future tours, with Rebollo recording unclean vocals on studio performances. In between tours and recording sessions, lead singer

released his debut solo studio album, ''

Moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

'', in February 2019, and embarked on a solo headlining tour. Tyler Acord, the band's former keyboardist and disc jockey, joined the band's studio sessions once more to program and perform synthesizers.

Promotion

On May 3, 2019, the band released the album's lead single, "

". The music video for the song premiered June 26, 2019. The album's announcement was on August 11, 2019, and the second single, "Drink About It", was released accompanied with its music video the following day. A third single, "Flexin'", a 2 minute and 26 second

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

-inspired

and

funk metal Funk metal (also known as thrash-funk or punk-funk) is a subgenre of funk rock and alternative metal that infuses heavy metal music (often thrash metal) with elements of funk and punk rock. Funk metal was part of the alternative metal movement, ...

song, was released on September 27, along with its music video. On October 3,

hosted a live stream album listening party with members of the band giving commentary on the album's tracks. The band toured as support on American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

's Trauma North American tour, from April 24 to August 9, 2019. The Beautiful Oblivion Tour took place in the United Kingdom from October 7 to 17, with support from Lotus Eater, and continued in North America from November 7 to December 15, 2019, with support from

Polyphia Polyphia is a primarily instrumental progressive rock band based in Plano, Texas, formed in 2010. The group consists of guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage, bassist Clay Gober, and drummer Clay Aeschliman. Initially rooted in a metal-focused ...

Sleep Token Sleep Token are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 2016. Its members remain Anonymous work, anonymous by wearing masks. After self-releasing their debut Extended play, EP ''One'' in 2016, the band signed with Basick Records an ...

, and Lil Aaron. On December 12, 2019, it was revealed that Issues would embark on

Dance Gavin Dance Dance Gavin Dance is an American Rock music, rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2005. It consists of lead guitarist Will Swan (musician), Will Swan, drummer Matthew Mingus, harsh vocalist Jon Mess, and lead vocalist and rhythm gui ...

's headlining 2020 spring tour with

Animals As Leaders Animals as Leaders is an American instrumental progressive metal band from Washington D.C. Since 2012, the band has consisted of Tosin Abasi (lead guitar), Javier Reyes (rhythm guitar), and Matt Garstka (drums), having originated in 2007 as a ...

Veil of Maya Veil of Maya is an American metalcore band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 2004. The group consists of guitarist Marc Okubo, drummer Sam Applebaum, bassist Danny Hauser and vocalist Lukas Magyar. They are currently signed to Sumerian Records an ...

and

Royal Coda Royal Coda is an American rock music, rock band based in Sacramento, California, founded by lead guitarist Sergio Medina. They are known for their amalgamation of progressive rock, psychedelic rock, and post-hardcore. The band currently consists ...

in March and April. This tour was later postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On November 20, 2020, Issues released the instrumental version of the album on all streaming media and digital download platforms.

Composition

''Beautiful Oblivion'' is a

album with elements of

and

, and influences of

, R&B,

and

. The album is the band's first release to not feature original member and unclean vocalist Michael Bohn, which led to significantly less screaming vocals being featured on the record, with the exception of guitarist AJ Rebollo's unclean vocals on a few tracks. Writing sessions for songs on the album began as early as 2014, when the band began reviving old demo recordings, while recording sessions took place between 2017 and 2019, in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (, ; Spanish language in California, Spanish for "winter squash, squashes") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States.Howard Benson Howard Michael Benson (born July 20, 1956) is an American record producer from Havertown, Pennsylvania. He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2007 and 2008, among two wins and 16 total nominati ...

Kris Crummett Kris Crummett is an American record producer and owner of Interlace Audio in Portland, Oregon. Crummett started recording in 2002. He has worked with many notable indie music record labels, including Rise Records, Epitaph Records, Fearless Records ...

stepped down as producer and served as an engineer on the record. Ty "Lophiile" Acord, a former member of the band, helped compose and perform synthesizers and programming for the album. The band's recording sessions were heavily disrupted due to the

2018 California wildfires The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season in List of California wildfires, California history. It was also the largest on record at the time, now third after the 2020 California wildfires, 2020 and 2021 Ca ...

, which lead to the members having to evacuate on various occasions.

Lyrics and music

The opening track, "Here's To You"–a moody R&B-laden

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

song–opens with a sample of Ty "Lophiile" Acord toying with a

yo-yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 440 BC. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in th ...

. One of the first tracks composed for the album, it was co-written with

Jamaican-American Jamaican Americans are an ethnic group of Caribbean Americans who have full or partial Jamaican ancestry. The largest proportions of Jamaican Americans live in South Florida and New York City, both of which have been home to large Jamaican comm ...

singer-songwriter

Jesse Boykins III Jesse Boykins III (born February 20, 1985) is a Jamaican-American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. Career Boykins is a world soul artist originally from Jamaica, later relocating to Miami and finally Brooklyn. His ...

and features a vocal appearance from the band's bassist Skyler Acord on the bridge. The second track, "Drink About It", a

groove metal Groove metal, sometimes also called neo-thrash or post-thrash, is a subgenre of heavy metal music that began in the early 1990s. The genre is primarily derived from thrash metal, but played in slower tempos, and making use of rhythmic guitar pa ...

and R&B song, was written by singer

with the lyrical subject matter dealing with " cheater being found out by their unfortunate partner." "Find Forever", the album's third track, has been described by the group as "a wedding song", with the melody and top-line written by Skyler Acord. It also features famed

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

player Antonio "Saxl Rose" Hancock and a choir. The fourth song, "

", a

nu metalcore Nu metalcore (or nu-core) is a fusion genre that combines elements of nu metal and metalcore. The genre often makes use of a combination of screamed and sung vocals, in addition to breakdowns, hip hop-influenced drum beats and electronic music ...

track, was released as the lead single and features guitarist AJ Rebollo performing

unclean vocals Vocalists are capable of producing a variety of extended technique sounds. These alternative singing techniques have been used extensively in the 20th century, especially in art song and opera. Particularly famous examples of extended vocal techniq ...

on the bridge; Rebollo and Carter wrote the song about Rebollo's

suicide attempt A suicide attempt is an act in which an individual tries to kill themselves but survives. Mental health professionals discourage describing suicide attempts as "failed" or "unsuccessful", as doing so may imply that a suicide resulting in death is ...

during recording sessions for the album. The fifth track, "Without You", a

rap rock Rap rock is a music genre that developed from the early to mid-1980s, when hip hop DJs incorporated rock records into their routines and rappers began incorporating original and sampled rock instrumentation into hip hop music. Rap rock is co ...

pop metal Pop metal (sometimes conflated with or used interchangeably with glam metal) is an umbrella term for commercial heavy metal and hard rock styles which feature prominent pop music elements such as catchy hooks and anthemic choruses. It became p ...

song, was composed during the recording sessions for ''

'', in 2015, but was revisited for ''Beautiful Oblivion''. "Rain", the sixth track, was musically inspired by

pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

, specifically

Mayday Parade Mayday Parade is an American rock band formed in Tallahassee, Florida, in 2005, as the result of a merger between two local Tallahassee bands, Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment. Their debut EP '' Tales Told by Dead Friends'' was released i ...

, with its lyricism dealing with "people who always drag the fucking mood down." The seventh song, "Downfall", has been labeled as one of the heavier tracks on the record, featuring double drop C# tuned guitars. It also features

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

inspired production from

Enter Shikari Enter Shikari are a British Rock music, rock band formed in St Albans in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and drummer Rob Rolfe. In 2003, guitarist Rory Clewlow joined the band to complete its current li ...

keyboardist Rou Reynolds on the second verse. "Second Best", the eighth track, features both

melancholic Melancholia or melancholy (from ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval, and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly depressed mood, bodily complain ...

lyrics and upbeat

elements, and was co-written by Carter with

Bad Seed Rising Bad Seed Rising was an American rock band from Maryland composed of four teenagers: singer/rhythm guitarist Francheska Pastor, lead guitarist Mason Gainer, drummer Aiden Marceron and bassist Louey Peraza. They were the youngest band to sign with ...

singer and guitarist Francheska Pastor. The ninth song, "Get It Right", has been described as a stand-out on the record, with elements of

, R&B and 90s-inspired

; lyrically, the track deals with

sex Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...

. "Flexin'", the tenth song, began as a joke which later was decided by the band to be a track on the record featuring satirical lyrics about rebelling and elements of

, electro-pop and

. It was described as a freestyle exercise for Carter after growing tired of writing. "No Problem (Keep It Alive)", the eleventh song, was the first track written for the album, and features Nigerian-American singer Ivana Nwokike of

VanJess VanJess was a Nigerian-American R&B duo composed of sisters Ivana and Jessica Nwokike. The duo began their career on YouTube performing cover songs. After one of their videos, a cover of Drake's "Headlines", had viral success, they decided to pu ...

. It features interpolated lyrics and vocal parts from "If You Love Me" by

Brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Ty ...

and " Red Nose" by

Sage the Gemini Dominic Wynn Woods (born June 20, 1992), better known by his stage name Sage the Gemini (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer from Fairfield, California. He is best known for his 2013 singles "Gas Pedal" (featuring I ...

. The twelfth track, "Your Sake", is a

piano ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballad ...

featuring no other instrumentation, becoming the first song by Issues to only feature

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and vocals. The thirteenth and final track, the title-track, features more

production with elements of

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

Track listing

Personnel

Issues *

– clean vocals, additional unclean vocals * Adrian Rebollo – guitars, unclean vocals * Skyler Acord – bass, additional vocals on “Here’s to You” * Joshua Manuel – drums, percussion Additional personnel * Tyler Acord "Lophiile" – programming, composer, additional instrumentation, synthesizers Production * Digital editor – Paul DeCarli, Joe Rickard * Engineer –

, Michael Closson,

, Trevor Dietrich, Hatsukazu Inagaki, Ricky Orozco, Mike Plotnikoff * Guitar technician – Marc VanGool * Producer – Howard Benson * Mixing –

* Mastering –

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2019 albums Issues (band) albums Rise Records albums Albums produced by Howard Benson