Wargasm : "What Are You Afraid of ?"

 

This Boston-based thrash band released one of the best thrash albums ever in 1988, titled "Why Play Around?" In some ways, they felt like a cross between Sodom and Coroner, while bringing more groove to the occasion. They were trying to reissue their 4th and final album, "Suicide Notes," but their record label sabotaged this in some way, so here we are with a secret self-release of it. There is less thrash and more groove, as they adapted to the 90s. The vocals are pushed forward in the mix, and the staccato chug of guitar is more mid tempo, though they still resolve things with intersting chords that ring out more sonically. 

"Engine" is even more melodic than the opening track, and it takes a few listens for the change in direction they took here to grow on me. They give things a taunt, thrash, and chug to accent certain passages and lean into it more on "Underground". They seem to be pondering what they do lyrically on this song. The guitar solos are pretty impressive if you are into that kind of thing; they are true to the era of music they are making. The drumming stands out as being very solid and one of their strengths. More naunce than flash. "Meat" feels more like a Pantera song, but it works well for what it is. They throw in some ofthe punk speed that crossover into thrash with "Not Forgiven, Not Forgotten." This gives is more of an old school Metallica mood. 

"Jigsaw Man" carries more weight in the chugged tension that propels it; when they pour on the speed, perhaps it does not carry the same weight. The riffing of the title tracks locks in tighter as things click in the songwriting here. The drummer is really popping off on it.  "Grey Matter" is a short instrumental that feels more like an interlude. It is a clearer picture of where Thrash went in the 90s on "Fire Away."More deliberate, less speed metal momentum. Many of the songs feel like latter-day Metallica as they are recapturing the thrash spirit after reprioritizing their approach to the genre's aggressive attack. I will give it a 9. 

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Song of the Week-WARGASM's "Vigilantes'

 

If Mindless Self-Indulgence were to rapeDie Antwoord during an alien abduction somewhere on the Zeef-side, then the results might be this band. They are the kind of crazy I love. Actual instruments are being banged on; they have done the rock festival circuit a few times over, so they are not names you won't recognize. I know the trend is for bands to sometimes just release a string of singles but I hope this is foreshadowing of an impending full-length. But if so, it would not drop til June at the earliest, unless they have the worst press team ever. They call themselves angry music for sad people, and I don't get where the sad is in this equation, but it is so good I am not questioning it. 

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Bad Omens : " Concrete Jungle ost"

 

Bad Omens is one of the millennial bands who is more pop than they are rock and the rock elements they possess are largely thanks to the production tricks in the studio.  This is the conclusion I came to after realizing I had not actually heard what they sounded like when left to their own devices before I reviewed their new collaborative album. They have pretty decent taste in music when it comes to the artists they are pairing up with as Poppy and HEALTH appear on the first two songs., which are slappers for this very reason, taking the nu-skool of industrial and applying it to what Bad Omens does. However, when the guest is less impressive like Bob Vylan, the result suffers as the band needs to do more to balance things out. This why the song Poppy is on sounds more like a Poppy song and the same could be said about the HEALTH track. Wargasm does bring out the best in "Hedonist". 

This is a double album with the second half being a live album I am not reviewing and just focusing on the studio portion. "Even' shows the band on their own. The result is basically a pop song proving my previous point. Thought pop with vocal melodies that are not really doing a great deal to hook you in and more of a chill sound that you might hear in the waiting area of a hair salon. There are moments like "Loading Screen' which are just interludes.  With Erra on "Anything More than Human" you might assume the end results will be heavier. Wrong... they are more pop, but it's too well done for me to complain about it.

'Nervous System" features industrial strength future pop artist iRis, EXE. It sounds more like it could be just her until the band kicks in. They collaborate with Thousand Below the first being "Artifical Suicide" which conforms to a more Slipknot flavored take on nu-metal. Then they lean into the pop side of the equation for "The Grey" though there are more electronic elements, that create the re-mix feeling, taking the emphasis off the song part. The remix with We Are the Fury, clocks in closer to pop, and with it comes more emphasis on the vocal melody which is lighter and more in line with the likes of Sleep Token. So Wylie does similar honors by creating a more atmospheric pop landscape. 

They keep things moving in this ambient pop direction for "BAD DECISIONS" which does not create much space between what they do and the Weeknd. It works for the song, which is a decent pop ballad. Though I am sure if their fan base is really showing up for slow jams, if they are that is even more telling about them. British pop duo Lets Eat Grandma joins them for "Just Pretend', which is another 80s-tinged synth wave ballad. I will round this down to a 9, it's holding the score there since there are some really strong songs on the first half, and the last quarter of the album weighs things down with the ballads, though most are well done, it just depends if that is what you are in the mood for. 

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