Wrought Iron - Rejoice and Transcend

Written by Matt Hinch.


I've come to rely on a certain level of quality from Grimoire Records releases. Rejoice and Transcend, the debut full-length from Wrought Iron doesn't disappoint in that regard. It's just as black and unyielding as you'd expect from a band with such a name.

The band doesn't use that iron to build fences however. While firmly based in the black metal realm, they open the gates to other influences as well. Tracks like “White Death” and “Brine” in particular call upon the energies of grind and Swedish death metal to extend their reach around the listener and squeeze for all they've got.

Razor sharp guitars and dynamic percussion anchor a sound that blends both second wave black metal and USBM with the aforementioned styles creating an album that avoids the pitfalls of simply slashing and burning for the entire run time.

For the most part, Rejoice and Transcend is harsh as sandpaper and comfortable in the upper reaches of the BPM spectrum. But they're not afraid to bring things down a notch. “Revelation and Awakening” especially reveals a decidedly less harsh facet through a slower tempo and melodies amongst the battering.

Throughout, no matter the speed or level of sonic evisceration, the vocals remain steadfast in their ability to terrify. Callous black metal shrieks and feral death metal roars reach out from the darkness and grip the listener in an icy embrace. It's those sewer-fed and blood-curdling vocals that hold the album in the clutches of black metal.

Wrought Iron are scathing and violent, carpet-bombing the listener with scorching rhythms and grinding blasts, but not without enough tempo changes and mood shifts to keep your attention. Rejoice and Transcend is a dense and layered album equally content to roll like thunder or send shards of broken glass swirling through the ether. Wrought Iron have captured a nice balance between a bleak and evil Scandinavian flavour and its more brutal US counter. Feel the anguish. Feel the terror. Rejoice and Transcend.

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Fange - Poisse

Written by Ulla Roschat.

Artwork by Ben from Fange

Once in a while it occurs that an album sweeps me off my feet upon first listen. And that’s what Fange’s EP Poisse did. The three piece band from Rennes/France (consisting of members of Huata, Brain Pyramid and Zalhietzli) formed in 2013. Poisse is their first release and came out in April 2014.

The album is a beautiful mess of noise and groove, crushing heavy riffs and ugly vocals clouded in distortion. Everything about it is excessive and extreme… fuzz, reverb, distortion, feedback, vocals, all piled up in layers creating a thick, heavy, dissonant, hellish chaos. Still there’s a deep and heavy groove to it, with bouncy riffs and rhythms strong enough to prevent the chaos from being boundless. Instead the groove provides depth, movement and direction (probably straight to hell) without taming the chaos but building an exciting tension between both.

The harsh aggressive vocals are quite low in the mix and get nearly drowned in the heavy riffs and noise that gives them a ghostlike quality. All the elements are set and balanced in a way to create and nourish an utterly dark, dangerous, depressive atmosphere. In the fifth track “...” the vocals are like some heavily distorted ritualistic chants or prayers, that are able to scare the shit out of you and conjure up even the filthiest and ugliest beasts and demons hell has to offer.

The bracing recklessness and boldness with which Fange unleash their utterly raw and brutal energy in a sweet mix of sludge, HC and noise is simply compelling. Poisse is a 30 minute face melting jarring outrage, abrasive, intense and highly addictive.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Wolvhammer - Clawing into Black Sun

Written by Justin C.


For whatever reason, it always takes me a little while to get into Wolvhammer albums. When I first heard 2012's The Obsidian Plains, I thought it was fine, but it didn't stick with me. A few months later, after being reintroduced to it by Metal Bandcamp's own Andy Osborn, it quickly became one of my favorites.

The same happened when I first got my hands on their new one, Clawing into Black Sun. I was a little let down on first listen, but after three or four playthroughs, I can't get enough. My best guess is that my brain says, "Oh good, new USBM," but Wolvhammer doesn't quit fit next to my go-to USBM bands. They might share geography with Woe and Deafheaven, but they're better suited to a Sex Pistols kind of mood than a Wolves in the Throne Room kind of mood.

Like their last album, Clawing into Black Sun still delivers their sludgy, doomy, punky version of black metal, but if anything, they've turned the snarling punk up a few notches. They largely eschew blast beats and waves of tremolo-picked guitars for doomier sounding riffs, like in "Slaves to the Grind," but when Adam Clemans snarls, "True redemption is out of reach / When you're living your life as a fucking leech!" there's more than a little Johnny Rotten in there. This is less frosty, Norwegian bleakness than it is fighting in an alley or spitting on pictures of the royal family. (Yeah, that doesn't make a lot of sense for a USBM band, but work with me here. I'm writing this on Independence Day here in the U.S., so a ridiculously out-of-date anti-royalty vibe seems appropriate.)

Vocalist Adam Clemans pulls the neat trick of having his growling and snarling vocals still be largely understandable without printed lyrics. And they're just so damn fun. Try not chanting along with "BLACK! BLACK! BLACK!" in the title track. There are also some more great gang vocals in the closing track, "A Light That Doesn't Yield." I know from the band's Facebook page that they're pretty proud of this track, and that pride is well deserved. It's a nearly nine-minute, slow burner of a song, but it's worth every second.

I don’t know if Clawing into Black Sun will ultimately become my favorite Wolvhammer album or not, but maybe that’s the wrong way of looking at it. Maybe The Obsidian Plains scratches an itch for something a little more complex, whereas Clawing into Black Sun is a more immediate, more visceral thrill. Either way, give this whole album the multiple spins it deserves and make up your own mind.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]