EXCLUSIVE FEATURE: Fail The Enemy's 5 Songs That Influenced Them

UK metallers FAIL THE ENEMY return with a heavier, synth-driven sound on their engrossing new single and video, 'Drowning Deep', out now. Watch the video here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c14yTreyr4o

Listen to the band on Spotify here – https://open.spotify.com/artist/2dpWoATZA8JQULzO82q9uA The track is lifted from their upcoming EP, 'Sandcastles', arriving on Friday 9th October.

With the band gathering momentum, we exclusively asked which tracks that have greatly inspired their sound ahead of their upcoming EP:

Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence

Elliot: "This song has been a staple in my life for as long as I can remember. What I love about it is the simplicity of it. It has a basic structure but it constantly remains interesting throughout. I also love how it seems to have been written to play live. It’s one of the best live tracks ever and the main riff is so iconic that as soon as that kicks in, everyone goes mad. I also love how the synths sound emotional and create such an atmospheric vibe which is what we try to do when we’re writing as it captures the essence of what our music is all about. Having a chorus that gets in your head too and you know the words immediately has been something we try to implement in our music and it sounds so good when thousands of people sing it."

Bad Omens - Specter

Elliot: "This is one of my favourite songs that has come out in the last year or so. I love how powerful and atmospheric it is. How the guitar and synths blend together to create an epic and dramatic sound. The instrumentation is simple but so effective which is something I'm a big fan of and I try to incorporate into my writing. Not one element stands out, it just all works together so well and has a simple chorus with a catchy melody. With our new EP, I was trying to write a song that would work as an opener but that would also be great to open a set with, and when I saw this song live, it was perfect at that and it really inspired me and gave me an avenue to go down."

For The Fallen Dreams - No Heaven

Nathan: "Being as an oceans blacktop had to be my first choice, it’s a bit of a hidden gem for me on the waiting for morning to come album. I absolutely adore the synth use and musicality in this track, for me it creates a surreal and almost oceanic feel to it, dreamlike in a way, and of course the wordplay and poetic nature of the language used is always an aspect that keeps me coming back to this song in particular for a little inspiration, the whole thing feels vivid but abstract at the same time and that middle ground between fantasy and reality is where I’m really trying to explore with my writing."

Being As An Ocean - Blacktop

Nathan: "Had to put this one second, I love a catchy chorus and it’s one of the most important things for me to try and capture in our work, i love the way this song does that, its a fun one to belt along to sober or drunk too (tried and tested) loads of power and energy which is something I'm currently trying to incorporate too."

Being As An Ocean - Dissolve

Elliot: "I know this is the second Being As An Ocean song we’ve mentioned but it is the song that really hit home with me lyrically and musically in terms of the atmospheric spacey vibe it has. It was the first song by them I'd heard and, again, the simple but hard hitting chorus makes it stand out. It’s only a two line chorus but those lyrics really hit me and mean so much. I knew from the minute I heard it that I wanted to write music that gave someone else the same feeling as I got when hearing it."

EP Track listing: 1. GONEFOREVER; 2. Paper Dreams; 3. NEON; 4. Drowning Deep; 5. Borrowed Hope.

Pre-save the upcoming EP 'Sandcastles': https://ffm.to/sandcastlespresave

Released 9th October 2026.

For more on the band, see:
https://www.failtheenemy.com
https://www.instagram.com/failtheenemy
https://www.facebook.com/FailTheEnemy
https://www.youtube.com/@failtheenemy
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2dpWoATZA8JQULzO82q9uA