If Not For Me Enter a New Era With "Where The Light Begins To Fade"

It’s 2026, and the metalcore boys are hurting and coping with it in the best way. Where the Light Begins To Fade is the third album from If Not For Me, exploring heavy themes of loss, grief, betrayal, and a little healing thrown in. They worked with names such as Curt Martin, Trevor Borg, Jon Eberhard, and Hiram Hernandez to bring forth the mature and cohesive storytelling of the album. Taken as a whole, there’s a lot of darkness on this album but also a recurring desire for connection, to be understood, needed, and forgiven.

The record opens with “Retrograde”, a track that feels like the kind of grief you can only find at 2 am when you’re being haunted by the memory of someone who made you feel safe enough to feel known. However, despite the loss, there’s a recognition of beautiful parts that were left with the storyteller at the end of the connection.

If “Retrograde” is 2 am grief, then “Lie Awake” is the song you’re listening to when you’re lying awake at night obsessing. There’s a dark magnetism to this song where the storyteller is both the subject’s greatest temptation and pain simultaneously. It’s a seductive dance of obsession and possession with maybe a hint of emotional dependence. Lyrics like “I’m the blood running through your veins / I’m your pain / Can you hear my voice when you lie awake” make it feel like pleasure and suffering have become inseparable from each other.

“King on a Broken Throne” feels like the moment the album stops looking outward and starts questioning everything underneath it. This is the song you listen to when the things you were taught to believe no longer make sense. There’s a deep sense of disillusionment here, as the storyteller wrestles with faith, shame, and the realisation that something that was supposed to give them comfort may have also taught them to hate themselves. It feels less like abandoning faith casually and more like grieving the loss of a worldview while trying to figure out who you are without it.

“Prey For Me” has been dubbed the focus track of the album, where Patrick Glover sings very obviously about people who “support you in public but root for your downfall in private.” With its heavy breakdown and lyrics dealing with a parasitic relationship, you come away feeling really empowered. It’s uplifting in a way that makes you feel like the toxic relationships you may have in your life aren’t defining you. Instead makes you want to defy their shitty opinions of you.

Vocalist Patrick Glover mentioned that this was the first time the band had to “leave so many demos that never made it to the finish line” and that this was the first time he didn’t write an entire record from a place of his own personal experiences. I feel like this is a case of being harder on yourself, especially when it comes to your own art. The songs feel deeply personal, and their intensity makes it feel like the band is riding the rollercoaster right alongside you.

Where The Light Begins To Fade is out now. You can also find the band on tour this fall with Wind Walkers and True North, in case you need to experience the catharsis this album brings in person.

Listen to the album:

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