Wake, March 27, 2020
Tracklist
1. Dissolve and Release
2. Kana Tevoro
3. This Abyssal Plain
4. Elegy
5. Mouth of Abolition
6. Paean
7. Torchbearer
8. In the Lair of the Rat Kings
9. Monuments to Impiety
10. The Procession
Purchase the album on Bandcamp here:
This small Canadian band from Calgary, Alberta started out under the grindcore label but now they play something else entirely. I first heard about Wake and decided to check them out in early December after they appeared at #25 on Treble Zine’s year end list. They released both a full-length album and a 3-track EP named Confluence in the same year. Grindcore bands are known for having very short song lengths, and Wake’s 8 song album Sowing the Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow was only 19 minutes total. However, both Devouring Ruin and Confluence have a track that exceeds ten minutes in length. Wake is now best described as some combined form of extreme metal. I'll discuss tracks from both of those releases.
“Dissolve and Release” displays some atmosphere, mixing a clean guitar line within technical death metal, and opens the album up on a strong note. “Beyond Empyrean” and “Disparity and Chaos” include some interesting instrumental sections and riffs. The guitar work of Arjun Gill and Rob LaChance creates an intense, dense atmosphere. Brief melodic interlude tracks are sprinkled across the album. Wake won’t be for everyone, and even by my standards it’s on the heaviest edge of the music I enjoy. For those that enjoy technical, compositionally strong death metal, this is a complex project to listen and decipher many times over.
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