Writhing Shadows
"Writhing Shadows"
Dawnbreed Rec. / Gurgling
Gore 2022
Friday, May
13th, meaning today, is when the release date of the debut album from
Birmingham / Alabama's Writhing Shadows, was scheduled. The band is admittedly
young, dating two years back, but as befits the underground, decent standards,
already having a demo, split and two EPs on their account. Now it's time for a
full-lenght, simply titled "Writhing Shadows". We find here eight
compositions, lasting together less than half an hour, which are basically the
quintessence of old school death metal. No, there is absolutely nothing
innovative or revealing on the album. The Americans simply collected all the
most attractive inspirations from around the globe, took lessons from the
greatest masters and melted everything into their own style. Mostly based on
the British school. The echoes of Bolt Thrower are clearly audible here, for
example in marching, armored rhythms with a stainless melody, which makes you
want to put on a tank helmet, aim and slap one hundred twenty millimeters at
hated enemies. There is no racing against the wind or technical show offs here.
There is, instead, an incredible weight and a perfectly balanced groove.
However, this is not just another clone of the Coventry legend. Writhing
Shadows very wisely weaves in their sounds some elements referring to the
Swedish school, appearing, for example, in the transitions into d-beats, or the
Finnish one, resonating in the guitar patents appearing several times on the
album, strongly suggesting that the gentlemen know Demilich inside out. To make
it more interesting, the sound of the guitars also seems to evolve over the
course of this album, adapting in timbre to the patterns mentioned above. The
drum parts are also quite varied, sometimes simple, pounding, almost punkish,
and then heavy and overwhelming. Did I mention anything about the bass lines?
Let me just say that this instrument also makes a strong presence on “Writhing
Shadows”, apparently in the slightly post-apocalyptic ending of “Devourment of
God's People”. Saying of the vocal, it is a classic puke, and also here no one
tried to reinvent or forcefully experiment with gunpowder. In addition, some
fragments also feature delicate, moderately used keyboard ornaments, and all of
this combined together makes Writhing Shadows' debut work like a solidly oiled
war machine. I am absolutely convinced that no old school geek, especially
of the aforementioned death metal
fractions, will feel disappointed with these recordings. On the contrary, I
think that many of them will have "Writhing Shadows" at the top of
the summaries, at least in the "US Death Metal Debut Album" category.
Killer!
-
jesusatan
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