To quote Moss from The I.T. Crowd: “Gas mark egg on your face!”

Not just an amusing anecdote from Channel Four’s Friday night comedy series, but also a message that could be directed at Fightstar’s former label - and more importantly – the masses that thought they would never succeed.

As they prove on One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours, they have blown the doors open on what the band sounds like now, and just as tantalising, what they may sound like in the future.

How many people would have estimated that Fightstar would pull out tracks that show the four-piece hinting towards Muse, Audioslave and a decent Machine Head amongst others? Anyone outside the group would’ve probably been laughed out of the room and into a padded cell a few months ago, but now it’s a deadly serious proposition.

Floods is one of the most important songs available here. Including a piano and some samples dusted over the top that resemble Muse’s Bliss, even Charlie Simpson starts to fall into the swing of things by nearly mimicking Matt Bellamy’s voice around the late two-minute mark. It’s truly eye opening stuff.

It doesn’t let off, as Amaze Us kicks off with the band trying to somehow conduct a Tom Morello riff-off between his work in Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave, before plunging into a crushing metal breakdown at the end, complete with throat-shredding scream.

It almost seems apt that a key lyric lifted from Amaze Us is: “I know that we’ve got changes to make/I hope we'll see this through”. It almost seems like a direct comparison to everything that has happened through the bands’ treacherous life so far.

The move to create a much-publicised ‘heavier sound’ is most apparent on the incredibly punishing Deathcar, as Simpson throws his darkest feelings on record over his split from his former girlfriend, culminating in the lines: “Just say the words and this will all end now” and the more upfront: “You make me fucking sick”, which is aptly screamed as chugging riffs and the double bass pedals get a royal roasting.

It doesn’t stop there, as the other noticeable change in all-out brutality comes through Tannhauser. Alex Westaway and Simpson provide a vocal performance that is most akin to Deftones here, which is the second definite nod toward the Sacramento band after Omar Abidi’s delicate drum work on 99.

This leaves follow-on track Our Last Common Ancestor with an almost uphill challenge to succeed – and doesn’t quite come up victorious. A song that fares better is H.I.P (enough), with its patchwork of ideas, intricate guitar work and skittish time-sequences allowing for a mish-mash of ideas that spans the whole of Fightstar’s career.

There are some brilliant stand-out single tracks, with the already released We Apologise For Nothing spearheading the pronged attack with I Am The Message that almost sounds like an Angels and Airwaves sample with the ego removed.
Two of the most surprising songs featured are You & I and Unfamiliar Ceilings that feature female backing vocals. The former constructs a melody-based style and a rolling snare. It’s a great example of the band’s progression. The basics aren’t too new, but what they’ve added on top really opens your eyes.

The latter rounds off the album, and sees gentle samples and electro beats being squeezed within sensitive guitars and female choral work. It’s a radical departure, and takes a bit of time to really figure out. If you compare it to Grand Unification’s finale Wake Up, and you find a totally different beast that both provide musical closure.

Say what you want about Fightstar and their roots, but there’s no doubting the band of today is an incredibly exciting prospect.