Issued on a regular plastic case with black tray. Comes with a 8-page booklet.
The exceptional name accompanies exceptional music and therefore W.A.I.L. gives a mouth to something that absorbs conventions of black, death, doom & heavy metal – but the entity speaks with only one unique voice and that voice does speak indeed, because the wine of Satan has got them drunk.
A.E. - Guitars, chants, clean vocals, shouts, harsh vocals
P.R. - Main vocals
J.I. - Bass, additional solos
S.F. - Drums, keys, bongos, djembe, tambourine, triangle, maracas
All vocals on "Agony" by A.E.
Violins by Katariina Moisio.
Cover illustrations by Demoniarch. Band photos by Matias Ulfves.
W.A.I.L.'s full length has finally arrived, and it's everything I was hoping it would be based on their previous demo. I mentioned a lot of bands as points of reference in my review of the demo, and those influences are still present here - Hellenic black metal like Varathron and early Rotting Christ; Italian acts such as Mortuary Drape and Necromass; and of course, fellow Finlanders Barathrum and Hail. It's doom-laden black metal with strong (but dark) melodies and epic construction, and a rotten, occult vibe.
The album contains only five tracks, one of which is a mere intro. But never fear. The four main slabs of music here are all in the ten to thirteen minute range, and each of them has as much going on in it as two or three songs by most bands, despite the generally slower tempos and lengthy riffs. The entire thing has a conceptual feel, underlined by the song titles derived directly from the band and album name; I'm not sure if it's a full-on concept album or not, but all of this lends itself to an overwhelming feeling that one is listening to a single, epic 45 minute composition rather than a mere collection of songs. For a new band, it's quite an achievement. After a hypnotic, repetitive intro (fittingly titled "Initiation"), the band gets to the good stuff quickly. "Wisdom" introduces the band's hallmark sound - bass-heavy above all; doomy but with thrashier sections that get the adrenaline going; heavy riffing influenced by traditional heavy metal and doom bands; low growled vocals like Wildness Perversion's singing for Mortuary Drape, or the echo-drenched bellows of Hail. As the song winds onward, it never stops evolving. Halfway through there's a section of doomish heaviness vibrating with horns, or a convincingly horn-like keyboard patch - it reminds me a bit of the atmospheric stuff on some Nile albums, but is much more ominous in this context. After that it returns to something like the early part of the song, but with doubled vocals and changing rhythms still moving the track's momentum forward. Then some heavily-reverbed lead guitar, another riff change... on and on until a slow and heavy fade out. W.A.I.L. is never content to rest on a single idea for too long, yet everything fits together and flows in a compositional style almost worthy of The Chasm's Daniel Corchado. If this all sounds like hyperbole, it might be - but just barely.
"Agony" begins with a slow, martial drum pattern, which eventually is joined by a VERY slow doubled bass-and-guitar riff that sounds like the footfalls of Cthulhu or something. It's very foreboding and fitting of the title - the promise of agony to come, or maybe a hint of some agony going down in a torture chamber a couple miles underground, from which only a few muffled cries emanate. The singer switches vocal styles here to half-whispered spoken word, interspersed with moaning clean vocals. The clean vocals aren't his strong suit but they work well enough in context, giving a kind of ritual feel to the proceedings. "Agony" overall is a less heavy track than "Wisdom," but it cranks up the atmosphere to a great degree, and gets the listener used to the idea that the band won't be content to just repeat themselves. The second half of the song is almost lovely, with some unconventionally pretty melodies alternating with dissonant chiming guitar and creepy growled lyrics.
"Illumination" begins as the least interesting track of the album - the riffing is off-kilter and flirting with a disturbing atonality, but it's just not as memorable as elsewhere; and for one of the only places on the LP, the slow tempo almost comes off as a liability. Maybe my ears are just wanting more energy after the pronounced glacial quality of "Agony." Around three minutes in it picks up, however, and the drums start to carry the day. In fact, drumming throughout the album merits a special mention. The rhythms are always suited to the riffs but don't just mindlessly repeat, with lots of crisp tom fills (tough to do in slower tempos) and tasty cymbal work - as well as, of course, thumping double bass. The best rhythm work is in "Wisdom" and in several parts of "Illumination," but you can almost constantly count on something interesting out of that part of the band. The best stretch of "Illumination" builds on the great drum work with heavy metal riffs that, dare I say, just fucking ROCK. And then the band throws a curveball with very upsetting piano and keyboard sounds. Again, you can expect the unexpected, while still enjoying the overall mood that is never broken. If this is illumination, it's of the darkest hue.
Last up is "Lunacy." This 13+ minute beast kicks off with delicate cymbals and a lone guitar. Then it goes into a MONSTER riff that exemplifies all of W.A.I.L.'s best ideas: hammering, Samael-like rhythms, and extremely catchy fretboard work using palm-muted power chords and lots of hammer-on and pull-off notes. I won't dive into the full length of this track because I've already said more than I meant to in this review, but suffice to say, this is a fitting conclusion to this adventurous album, with of all things a single, somber violin creaking away in the middle of it, and a later passage that goes full-on avant garde noise. Great.
Overall W.A.I.L. has really impressed me, twice now. Along with Weapon, Sacriphyx, Negative Plane, and Misery's Omen, this is one of a rare handful of bands doing truly interesting work in black metal today, and paying homage to the less-appreciated scenes of yesteryear. I don't need to hear any more Darkthrone clones, but I could definitely stand to hear more bands like this one extending the thread that was dropped back when Samael and Necromantia gave up their unique occult vibe for a more conventional sound. Best of all, W.A.I.L. is never content to just replicate anyone else's work. You can tell where they came from, but who the hell knows where they're going. I'm prepared to be pleasantly surprised.
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