ALL I LIVE FORโs Into The Ether storms in on October 31, 2025, as a fully realized leap forward for Leeds-based multi-hyphenate Mike Pearson. Written, performed, produced, mixed, and mastered entirely in his own studio, with drummer Dave Williams adding rhythmic muscle and steady guidance, the album feels like the product of one mind determined to wrestle chaos into clarity.
Pearson digs into everything from corrupt leadership and environmental decay to fear, unity, and life beyond death, and he does it with a sharpened sense of scale. This time around, intricate metal riffs collide with vast, choral vocal stacks โ up to eight harmonies deep โ giving the record a towering, cathedral-metal aesthetic.
Into The Ether kicks off with โAll Your Pain,โ a blistering opener built on buzzing, serrated guitars and sparkling cymbal crashes. The drums rumble like something waking up angry beneath the floorboards, while Pearsonโs voice cuts through in agonized, despondent waves. His clean vocals soar with raw ache before dropping into guttural screams that shake the air. Midway through, a ghostly choral section rises, haunting, almost ritualistic, before giving way to a soft, melodic guitar solo that feels like a hand briefly reaching out from the wreckage. The lyrics read like a plea and a warning, as it showcases a world in collapse, people trapped inside themselves, and the terrifying bargain of handing over your pain just to survive. Sounds all too similar, doesnโt it?
A few tracks later, โEmbers of the Fallenโ opens with a spine-chilling choral swell, full-bodied and ancient, before the guitars grind their way in and the drums erupt. Pearsonโs voice intertwines with a heavier, grittier vocal, both pushing upward with fierce conviction. The track burns with prophetic energy, as it calls to learn from those who came before, to survive the darkness inside and around us, and to stop letting fear shrink our lives. The repeated refrain of fallen souls is mournful and galvanizing, like a warning written in smoke.
By the time โGive Me a Reasonโ hits, the band is fully in its stride. Thick, gritty riffs collide with crashing cymbals, while Pearson belts with yearning intensity. The chorus demands justification for following leaders who keep sinking lower, who keep borrowing time and tearing up the ground beneath everyone. Itโs defiant, frustrated, and emotionally charged, refusing to let complacency slide by unnoticed.
Into The Ether is a massive step forward, because it is bigger, bolder, and more fearless than anything ALL I LIVE FOR has released before. With shows lined up in Lincoln and Leeds, and more material already waiting in the wings, Pearson is building his own universe, one layered harmony at a time.
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Review by: Naomi Joan