Against The Current - Till Death & Back
Against The Current are back with Till Death & Back, their first record as an independent band and their first full-length release in five years since Fever. That alone makes this record feel like an important one for the band, but there’s also a pretty noticeable shift in direction here. The religious themes run throughout the record, while the band continues leaning further into the heavier, darker sound they’ve been developing over the last few years, which they got help with from Josh Gilbert of Spiritbox on this record. There’s still that classic Against The Current sound underneath it all, but Till Death & Back feels like the band is going in a more mature sound finally and figuring out exactly what they want to sound like for the future.
“Fortune Favors The Brave” is a way to kick things off, with Chrissy putting some serious power into her vocals. She says in the song, “Gravity keeps dragging me down,” which to me is a reference to one of their more popular projects in their catalogue that most fans always go back to. Her high notes immediately stand out. It sets the tone for what you’re going to get throughout the rest of the record: Chrissy’s highs, which play a major theme throughout it all.
“Dead Man Walking” is one of those songs that just gets stuck in your head. It’s catchy, has a great groove to it, and feels like a song that could really work live. Wanted to give credit to a little Canadian help on this record, and that was renforshort for helping with the writing for this song, and apparently Chrissy said in my chat that she did help with the last few songs on the record; maybe at some point we’ll find out which songs those were. But also just wanted to leave a note about this: they gave all the press people the same link and gave basically a demo version of Dead Man Walking, and to me that intro in the demo is way better than the release version. Would be cool to see maybe in the future they drop the demo version of this song to the fans. But as a rock and hard rock fan,n this song is a gem and should be played on mainstream rock radio easily.
“Ashes To Glory” might actually be my favourite song on the entire record outside of the singles. This feels like the newer Against The Current sound at its best. It’s very catchy, has a heavier edge to it, and honestly gives me some Bad Omens vibes at times. With Chrissy softer vocals in the beginning, then leads into a heavy chorus which her singing in her higher registry going all out singing “Ashes To Glory”. The back half of the song is probably my favourite, its hard to pick out some of the lyrics but when Chrissy sings “tired of waiting, for that dawn” if I make it out correctly which those lyrics kind of sounds like a Breaking Benjamin song which that band is very into religious lyrics. The song just works from beginning to end, and I can see this one being a standout for fans who have been following the band’s heavier direction. When this record drops, this song will be on repeat for me up until Spotify Wrapped, 100%. “The Moth” feels more like a classic album track for me. It’s not necessarily one that immediately jumped out above the rest, but it fits nicely into the record and helps keep the momentum going.
“Heavenly” is another great banger, and I already knew this one worked live after seeing them perform it back in March for the first time in LA. To give a little note to fans being prepped to see the band live for this song, it's really great; the back half of this song especially sounds great in a live setting, and they make it a lot heavier than the album song. Which plays into Josh Gilbert from Spiritbox, who helped with this song on writing, so it makes sense for it to be heavier live. I could easily see it becoming one of those songs that gets a big reaction from the crowd as the tour starts for them in November.
“Always You And I” was probably one of the songs I had to spend more time with. I didn’t really get into it at first, but after a few listens it started growing on me. Knowing it’s a love song written for Chrissy’s husband gives it another layer, but what really stands out to me is the guitar work, especially the guitars at 1:04-1:13 just love it! It’s a lot lighter than most of the rest of the record, which gives the song a nice change of pace without feeling out of place. Especially hearing Chrissy’s raspy vocals throughout the song helps the song stand out a lot as well.
“White Noise,” the most recent single they just dropped, is another one I found myself going back to quite a lot the last few weeks. Even on Twitch livestream, Chrissy teased this song to the fans, saying she went high on the vocals. Which I hope she does well in a live setting for these songs cause this might be the highest she has done on a record to date. Chrissy’s high vocals for this song reminded me a little bit of what she does on “Fortune Favors The Brave,” and there’s something about the back half and ending that really pulls me in, especially her singing “pictures on the wall, echoes in the hall”. Like, she drags that hall part so well; it gave me similar goosebumps when I first heard their song “Voices” the first time, as she does great at dragging/singing lyrics. Right after that part then she singings in her high registry “we’ll never be more” just beautiful. Much like “Ashes To Glory,” the way the song builds toward the end is probably my favourite part of it. Great song!
“Protégé” is another more heavier sounding song for the album and was another track that took me a few listens to really get into, even though I’m much of a rock/metal heavy listener; it just took me a bit of time to really get the lyrics. There’s also another little reference to “Weapon” with Chrissy saying, “ I'm the weapon you wanted, the blood is on my hands, you should fear what you started,” which is a fun callback for fans to such a hit song. Which I told Chrissy in my chat with her in June, I didn’t enjoy “Weapon” until I heard it live, and that song is a great live song! Maybe this song might replace “Weapon” if it gets as big as it did, but we’ll see what time will tell! “Stuck” feels like an album song to me. It didn’t necessarily wow me, but at the same time, it feels like a classic Against The Current track. The lyrics have some of that “Past Lives” era feeling to them, while the overall sound leans more toward the rock side of “Fever”. Honestly, it almost makes me wonder if this was a song they had sitting around for a while and finally found the right place for on this record. Maybe “Stuck” was just stuck waiting for its record home.
Then we get to the title track, “Till Death & Back.” Right from the beginning, there are some really catchy lyrics that make this feel like a song built for people to sing along with. When Chrissy sings “I can find you, with my eyes closed, through the dead of night” in a softer tone, that might be a fun one fans can sing. I can picture them using it toward the end of their live set before the encore. It has that energy where people can sing, dance and just have fun with it, which makes it a strong live closer for a song. As a final song on the actual record, though, I’m not completely convinced. It’s a good song, but it doesn’t quite feel like a grand closing record to me. I could almost see a deluxe version of this record adding another song or three after it because it feels like there’s still somewhere else this record could go. When you compare it to past records, like a song like “Lullaby,” which is still such a gem, or even the song “Brighter” from one of their EPs, those are tough songs to beat as album closers. I’d still put “Till Death & Back” in the top three of their closing tracks, though.
Overall, Till Death & Back feels like Against The Current stepping into a new chapter. Being their first record as an independent band gives the album a different kind of feeling, and you can hear them continuing to push their heavier sound while still keeping pieces of what made the band what they are. The religious themes throughout the record also give the record a pretty clear identity lyrically, and whether you connect with those themes or not, there’s no question that they’re committed to them throughout the album.
There are definitely songs here that took me a few listens to fully appreciate, but there are also some really strong standouts like “Ashes To Glory,” “Heavenly,” “White Noise,” and the title track. For a band that has been through a pretty big transition and had five years between records, I think “Till Death & Back” is a solid next step even for new fans to get into the band.
It doesn’t completely replace Fever or In Our Bones for me, and it would be pretty difficult to beat some of the songs from their older records, but this feels like a record that shows where Against The Current are now. So far, they will be touring this record in Europe, Australia, and around Japan and into Mexico for the start of 2027. All that’s left is just a full-blown cross-Canada tour, maybe in Summer or spring, along with a US tour to show fans this new side of Against The Current.
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