After some really great Thrash Metal albums I was really in the mood for some more. In fact, I really missed the agenda Thrash Metal bands bring to Metal music and their commitment to mouth it out loud plus the violent music they usually make. Better yet when a band brings new features and make Thrash Metal sound updated as Warbringer did with “Wrath & Ruin” baking some modern Extreme Metal features with their dough as in “Through a Glass, Darkly” where vocals get more ghastly with some unearthly presences.
As it is usual, “Wrath & Ruin” delivers some intense raw energy in the form of 8 tracks of pure headbanging only Warbringer can deliver the thrash metaller. Of course, as it would be natural, the band follows some tradicional formulas from the genre, however, as it would be expected, they add some of their own. “The Sword and the Cross,” for instance, is a fantastic piece combining the band’s energy with some new stuff giving the fan the feeling he is listenning to something really new even tough its intro sounds standard. The thing is that the combination of the two guitars in the initial guitar riffing is simple fantastic. Guitar duo Adam Carrol and Chase Becker revive Bay Area Thrash Metal tradition doing what they do with the riffs here. Not only here, but the duo teaches a lesson on guitar playing in the album. It’s fantastic the way they share the leads throughout the track giving the fan an impression that the solos will never stop. Well, I would not mind if they wouldn’t. The frenzy continuous with “A Better World,” a track whose lyrics express the ay I also feel nowadays as I do not think things even get better. Desillusion would the best term to express what Warbringer want to say. The music expresses it perfectly. The end is near and it is getting near faster than expected. As I said, Thrash Metal bands’ agenda is something I really support. Following track “Neuromancer” is more cadenced with slow playing guitars that contrast with the drums doubling their tempo, an effect that works pretty fine. Drummer Carlos Cruz does a fine job here using lots of unusual techniques to make the track sunds even better, and unexpected.
“Wrath & Ruin” is an album that should be heard more than once to exactly perceive its details because there is so much more to it. My first impression was it to be an album full of new features, but, in fact, it is the way Warbringer do the old tricks that make the album so good. A great band knows how to insert details in its music to let the fan anxiously look for them. “Wrath & Ruin” is an album of details. Warbringer prove Thrash Metal is still alive.
Warbringer “Wrath & Ruin” will be released on March 14th via Napalm Records.
Track Listing:
3. Neuromancer
4. The Jackhammer
5. Through A Glass, Darkly
6. Strike From The Sky
7. Cage Of Air
8. The Last of My Kind
Watch “A Better World” official music video here:
Source: metaladdicts.com
