Wælwulf

The Heresiarch juggernaut returns with another EP to sweep everything in its path. "Hammer of Intransigence" failed to impress me despite its compact nature, since I think that it suffered in terms of inspiration. In Wælwulf though, the New Zealanders indemnify us, managing to compose substantive tracks despite the short duration of the release.

The main differentiation in this EP lies on the accessibility to the listener. The pattern of the brutal and monotonous pounding is no longer followed, and instead the mid-tempo parts seem to have the leading role. In that way there is a gradual musical climax while the atmosphere gains some extra points. Regarding the performance of the band members, it is flawless without any downside. This time the song structure is more diverse, mainly because the guitars broaden their range of ideas and avoid creating a monotonous result. The military drums are still an integral part of the band, and when the rhythm slows down, they really sound like hammers of doom. Also the bass provides some awesome volume and is aptly highlighted by the production, resulting in a devastating warlike experience.

In this effort, Heresiarch expand their sound a bit and τthe experiment proves to be successful. After all, the musical aggression doesn't always go hand to hand with high bpm. The 2 EPs have given us a taste of their sound, so I believe that the next step should be a full-length album. After Wælwulf, I can safely say that my expectations suddenly rose very high.

Originally written for: The Lair of Storfeth

Following the 2011 release of the heavily encumbered Hammer of Intransigence, which received mixed reviews amongst some war metal pansies, comes Heresiarch's '14 effort entitled Wælwulf (roughly translated to Wolf of Slaughter in Old English). As a fan of Anglo-Saxon history, I actually came across this term around 5 years ago in the appendices to a book documenting the Battle of Maldon.

Smelted on a limited 1000 issue 7" black wax and propagated via the mighty Germanic barbarians Iron Bonehead Productions, Wælwulf is bound to attract new fans with its extremely killer artwork conjured by the fantastic Nick Keller and devastating brew of militant black/death metal with elements of doom and even Tuvan throat singing.

Slow, punishing, nihilistic - these are all words that come to mind when this 45 rpm bad boy is spinning. The sounds is about as genocidal and depraved as a fucking Neanderthal butchering the living shit out of a pig in his fucking cave - no joke!

The third track, Endeþrǽst (meaning destruction in Old English), is easily the highlight of this EP for me. Featuring killer riffs, deranged vocals, and militant drums, the song progresses into a cataclysmic, laconic doom segment featuring Tuvan throat singing badassery - expect pure death.

My only major gripe with this release is that it's too short, albeit this is how it should be! Bring on the apocalyptic full-length and support!

4/5 Neanderthal Skulls.

- http://archaicblackmetallexicon.blogspot.co.nz/

Similar to their Hammer of Intransigence EP from 2011, Wælwulf presents this incredibly stark and apocalyptic cover image and then attempts to meet its crushing effect with some of the most brutish and savage black/death war metal possible. But despite the buzz the New Zealanders had surrounded that outing, I wasn't quite sold on their style. The guitars were just too drudging and simple, imagination and creativity eschewed for pure primacy, the riffs and vocals void of nuance, and at the vortex of their intentions, hostility seemed a trump card over the notion of evil; barbarism besting malevolence. So, for some listeners, I'd imagine it was working very much as Heresiarch intended, but if I'm bored within a few riffs and there's nothing unexpected on the horizon, it doesn't speak well for my reaction.

Oddly enough, Wælwulf continues this very practice, but I felt it was more successfully engaging to the ear. Unapologetic and perhaps even more nihilistic a discourse than its predecessor, but the simplistic chord structures bleeding into tremolo patterns, frenzied and listless outbreaks of distant lead guitars and layered growls and grunts seem to present this primitive, angry maze that I was more absorbed in. Granted, they're still not about to win an award for subtlety or stickiness of writing, since the rhythm guitars seem to hone in on the same small subset of chords and just fist them repeatedly, from open, muddy notes to belligerent, berserker chugs over which the vocals have a sort of call/response nature and some ambiance howls off in the backdrop ("Endethraest"); but despite any shortcomings, that's probably my favorite tune they've written yet. Another interesting piece is the closer "Abrecan", which largely consists of voluptuous, sludgy bass and feedback driven, downtrodden riffing influxes with more ritualistic, chanted growls that capitalize on the atmosphere of the second tune...I'd liken it to an 'epilogue' of war metal, when the bodies lay blasted and spent about the theater of violence, ravenous, howling vultures circling in the form of wailing feedback akin to nuclear warning sirens...

So, yeah, this is more experimental than the last EP and ultimately a lot more resonant with me; I think they might even be 'on to something' with the latter 2/3rds of the experience, though the material would still really benefit from some more interesting guitars once they hit full burst. To describe Wælwulf on the whole would be like early British brutality like Bolt Thrower or heavier Godflesh meets Incantation/Disembowlment, and then the resultant, roiling mass irradiated with Canadian psychopaths like Conqueror, Revenge and Blasphemy. If you think about such an equation, there's a lot of potential there for just clubbing the fuck out of the listener to such an extreme that only an imprint of his skeleton remains like chalk on the barren rock beneath. And this new EP really services such an analogy, so if you were on the fence with the last record or simply never heard them before, start with this fractionally abhorrent evolution.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com