Date: 2020
Total Time: 44:58
Label: Profound Lore Records
How can “violence” be transmitted through music? The Americans from Colorado are trying to do just that. Something that, to be honest, they know how to do well in their music. What we did not have in mind was that it would end up being the perfect soundtrack for Westworld.
In “A Romance With Violence” there reside two (key)words. “Romance” and “violence”. Both are perfectly combined here. WAYFARER continue in their familiar style, playing atmospheric modern Black Metal. One who has not heard this band, he could imagine that we are talking more like extreme Metal and not strictly about Black Metal here. But the atmosphere is a key component here. What kind of atmosphere are we talking about? Think of Wild West. Think of the 19th century. Think of anarchy, chaotic violence, total lack of power, the perpetual struggle for survival with weapons, crimes, attacks, murders and whatever means are needed to this. The romance of that violent age pushes those Americans to talk about it all through their music. And yes, they manage to do it. And in fact, flawless.
In this album you will hear the typical gunpowder smoked western like rock riffs (for example “Fire & Gold”), which will remind you of NICK CAVE, you will hear the necessary long-drawn mid-tempo extreme parts that will remind you of AGALLOCH, or PRIMORDIAL (“The Iron Horse (Gallows Frontier, Act II”). But before the Winchester rifle barrel cools down, it is in fire again with rapid violent Black Metal outbursts and the necessary savagery in the required voice. Trying to represent the Wild West tunes with all the necessary techniques, but above all it’s the mid tempo parts that sets the really big bands apart, for example the final ten-minute chant, called “Vaudeville”. With a guitar reminiscent of banjo for a long time, all the necessary echo / delay, vibrato, tremolo techniques required for the genre and the amp being a Fender-like one that emits smoke and is on the verge of explosion and with clear vocals. Mid-tempo in the process, more extreme as time goes by, with a real outburst at the end, an extreme one but also an atmospheric one. This track is one that you can hear and really understand what’s going on here.
This southern-atmospheric Black Metal patchwork, which is capable of being completely straight-to-your-face with the extreme meaning(in faster but also mid-tempo rhythms), but also makes you want to watch Sons of Anarchy at the same time all over again can give something really different to the Black Metal idiom. Among PANOPTICON, AGALLOCH, WAYFARER and many others, US Black Metal is nominated for the best BM of our times. “Don’t mess with something that ain’t bothering you”? We definitely say “mess with it”!
Rating: 7.5/10
Editor: Nikos Vlachos
Related Link: WAYFARER – Bandcamp Page
