Wrathage-Discipline
- By Aeonis
- Jul 31, 2015
- 3 min read
"Dark matter" lacked spontaneity, and the mix of clean and overdubbed harsher vocals did not blend well. Ultimately it was a premonition of things to come on the CD. "Born grit for war" starts of rather ferociously with blast beats and matched guitars, however the vocals seemed rather weak. The vocals lacked depth and they did not demonstrate the energy that would have kept me interested. There were low keyboards in the background and boring tempo changes. Additionally to add to the pain of having to endure this was a bright or white room reverb that really does not feel very death or Black Metal. It is sad that Wrathage even attempts to compare themselves to a great band like Emperor.
"Of the great chief" has good musicianship, with some heavy guitar parts but nothing that will captivate anyone and into saying that they have to take a listen to this. The band is really tight and the overall production is good. But the songs are not captivating and the band seems as if they just decided to create a CD for the sake of having a CD under their belts. The CD gets heavier and a little faster as the songs progress but overall it is your run of the mill metal CD.
It almost reminds me of a 1994 Ophthalamia poor production and uninteresting musical melodies. Their bio says that they have been a band since 1997 and it really shows, because they really have not crossed over into the 21st century. On a positive note the CD does demonstrate some heavy rhythm sections.
"Unslaved" brings a early Dimmu/Old Man's Child style with hooking riffs that actually kept me interested for the first time in the whole CD. The introduction to this song should have been the first track, which really goes to show me how important track order is. If Unslaved was the first track I might have been more excited in the beginning. But ultimately I am still disappointed with the CD.
"Distortion" started off heavy with killer drumming and more focussed riffs in the vein of an early Black Metal style band. Then just as you think the music will get better, "Reptilian" sets in and you wish you hadn't spent the $20 on this CD unless you are their friends and you just happen to want to support your friends efforts.
On "Reptilian" this are some low boring piano interludes but the overall keyboard work could have been accomplished by having cat walk on the keyboard. Then comes the crappy distortion pedal. And you know it is that variation of a metal pedal or metal zone or metal something because it is so unique to the effect that it is just not powerful enough to push out metal sounding Death or Black Metal. The solo work on the songs is poor and the guitarist is overcompensating with tremolo picking and tremolo bar emphasis, which leaves me unimpressed.
"Sadicum" starts out heavier than the rest of the CD. If the intensity of the CD was similar to this song then the CD would have been better. It almost brings me to the conclusion that the CD was a combination of multiple songs written over different periods of the year. Production becomes better and the drum, keyboards, and guitars are tight which is unlike the rest of the CD. Don't get me wrong I still would have not been any less critical but at least the band seems more cohesive on this song and even the solo work seems like it is another guitarist. The band synchronized themselves into a real Metal band by this part of the CD, but why should you have to listen to the other poor songs just to get to this one good one?
At the end of this CD I do not get the feeling that this is any special band and they do not differentiate themselves from any other band in the underground. My final thoughts are that this CD is not really worth your money and maybe if you are taking a long car/train ride then you might want to have some variety in your Metal collection. Wrathage is rudimentary, and will not leave an everlasting impression in the Metal world. They create a CD and they will fade into obscurity. These guys do not stand out amount the giants in the metal world, although they could if their new stuff sounds more like "Sadicum and The Crawlspace".
I give this CD 3 out of 5 guitar picks.
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