Long-time readers may remember my repeated praise for a Vancouver, BC, grind band called Burning Ghats (the latest of multiple posts about the band can be found here). It turns out that two of the guys in Burning Ghats (Cam and Kevin) are in another Vancouver band called WTCHDR (along with members of other area bands, Spirals and Memorial). Last month, they released a self-titled debut EP, which you can stream and download for free on Bandcamp (HERE).
I had high hopes for this EP because I lost so many brain cells listening to the Burning Ghats releases and I’ve found that life is more enjoyable now that I’m able to comprehend less of it due to brain cell loss. But, to be brutally honest, I was also kind of afraid. I could stand to lose some more brain bits flying out my ears and nose, but if one or both of my eyeballs exploded out of their sockets, that would complicate important daily activities such as being able to locate the toilet paper and getting a beer out of the fridge for a big swig instead of the hot sauce.
So I tied a blindfold really tight, to provide some extra reinforcement, and started listening to this EP. Seven songs raced by in less than 11 minutes and left smoking tread marks across my face. The ingredients: Distorted guitar and bass chords tuned to subterranean levels of low, alternately slamming hard and dragging the listener through pools of filthy sludge; bursts of squalling lead guitar and ear-splitting feedback; a vocalist being strangled by barbed wire; percussion that sometimes pounds like a massive sledge and sometimes attacks with d-beat fury.
WTCHDR brings together a bit of gory old Carcass, a bit of Dismember, a bit of crawling death/doom, a bit of crust-punk, a few nail-bombs, and some arson at a nursing home. Put all those bits together and you get an earful of chainsaw violence that will hold your interest from start to finish. The band switch up the pacing effectively, and have the riff machine fully gassed up and ready to roll without mercy. This is nice, visceral, filthy metal, with an old-school vibe.
Here’s one of my favorite tracks, “The Graveyard”. If this don’t get your head banging, you ain’t fucked up enough.
And here’s a tasty little promo video, which features the intro to a song called “The Sacrifice”:
These are links for WTCHDR web pages:
8 Responses to “SHORT BUT SWEET: WTCHDR”
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yeap this is filthy and awesome!!!!!
this is rad. you ever listen to trap them? something about the speed and absolute pissed fury on this ep reminds me of them.
I love Trap Them!
they are awesome. see them live whenever possible.
As a Trap Them fan, you’ll probably know one of the bands in tomorrow’s first post — but I won’t spoil the surprise.
That guitar tone makes me want to do things with 4 liters of whiskey and half a mascot suit.
Presumably the top half only.
And if you like this tone, wait until you hear the music in the first post tomorrow. It will tear your guts out beginning with the colon and working upwards.
I dunno, the singers old band was waaaaay heavier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtKjcASkIyM&feature=related