Still In Love - Recovery Language

Still In Love – Recovery Language
Release Date: 5th September 2025
Label: Church Road Records
Bandcamp
Genre: UKHC, Hardcore, Metallic Hardcore.
FFO: Cursed, Blacklisted, Have Heart.
Review By: Mark Young

Recovery Language is the debut full length from Still In Love, a band that has come together from other prime exponents of extreme music from the UK scene. And I’ll say it right now that this should find its way onto various lists come the end of the year.

No bones about it, this is a 23 minute, no breaths taken, no quarter given slice of UKHC. It detonates with Tell The Truth, a wall of noise and aggression with a throat shredding delivery from Nick Worthington where it seems he is pulling each word from underneath the skin. I know a lot of bands talk about raw aggression, and maybe they think that they have it, but not like this, as Nervous Impulse chimes in and just scorches, carpet bombing with serious intent. There is just no let up at all, no time to do anything else but be pummelled, and then they give you Preserve & Cherish, where they ease up (a tad, don’t worry) and bring in Frank Carter to assist with a crushing and stomping arrangement. I think if you look at any recent release and compare their opening 1-2-3 against this, you will find that Still In Love is as good as anything released.

Preserve & Cherish still has an immediate hit but is done in a stretched manner, the length giving the song more room to go. What you do have is that each track just runs straight in from the embers of the one before it. Feathered Nest brings that speed and intent back to our focus, its speed setting us for the crunch of Inherit. Inherit is slowed down with a metallic stomp to it that draws you in. You can imagine this kicking in live, especially when they bring the hammer down around 1 minute in. There is such an energy at play here, in that they write their songs so that they land with an irresistible force, so that you are just grabbed straight away. You might expect that energy to fall away as they get into the final stages, but if anything, they amp it up further.

The State Of Things To Come is testament to this, taking that need for perpetual motion without resorting to another frantic beating from speed. It still moves as you might expect, but they have expanded how it lands with you. Riffs are measured, dropping at optimum moments and shaped in a way that makes them sound magnificent. Feedback ends, and You Have To Let It Go starts, mixing in cleans with that harsh style used everywhere else. It acts as the precursor to their closing act, Pillar Of Strength, starting with a simple movement, and then they press the go button and we are off. Pillar Of Strength, along with The State Of Things To Come really show that they are not just about tearing your head off inside two minutes. There is more to them and of course Pillar wouldn’t be the song it is without moments that see them pull back and reflect whilst still utilising that front foot method of attack, and it’s a fitting song for them to finish on. It would have been so easy for them to write an album full of songs like Tell The Truth and everyone would love it. They haven’t, they know that in order to separate themselves they have to have more to say. The songs show it, the way that they are built know it. What they don’t forget is that they have to grab the audience by the throat and pin them down. Still In Love have shown here that they are prime exponents of this, and you should beat a path to wherever you get your music and buy it. Immediately.