I’ve previously written that when I listeneded to WarCrab‘s music I used to think of the kind of whumping sound that would be produced by a giant battering ram pounding against concrete pylons and ejecting the rebar out the other side. I also sometimes thought of Bolt Thrower and Crowbar, and not just because Transcending Obscurity Records refers to those bands in the context of describing WarCrab‘s forthcoming album The Howling Silence.
But this new album requires a reconsideration, or at least a partial reconsideration. Although WarCrab are still quite capable of punching holes through concrete, they’ve brought out other armaments and moods in The Howling Silence and created a shape-shifting amalgam of death metal and sludge that formidably expands their musical horizons.
That much was evident from the first three singles that emerged from the album, and the conclusion is reinforced by the fourth song that we’re premiering today.
In the case of the first single, “Orbital Graveyard“, you should prepare for a faster assault than you might be expecting from the band’s previous work, a delirious battering barrage laced with barbaric howls, ecstatically swirling and sizzling leads, and an exultant solo.
The next single, “Black Serpent Coils“, created a sharp contrast with the first one. Leading off with a mercurial bass solo, it evolves in ways that make one think of an alchemical cauldron bubbling and ritual drums tumbling.
Perhaps needless to say, WarCrab eventually bring out the battering rams, but those weird and woozy riffs persist, extending the atmosphere of strange sorcery (or drug-induced hallucination). Fretwork seizures also ensue as the vocals scream with teeth bared and the drums snap at your neck. There’s a solo in this one too, even more delirious and longer-lasting.
Next came the album’s immense title track, which brings a very impressive album to a very impressive close. WarCrab shapeshift in almost every song, but more so on “The Howling Silence” than on any other. It is, after all, nearly 11 minutes long, which provides more room to maneuver and morph.
The song has an arresting overture, with the swaying sounds of an exotic and entrancing ritual that hints at Babylonian or Arabian tradition (at least to these ears), but the band adapt that opening melody in ways that begin to seem more grim and distressing — and they start bringing the hammers down too, with neck-wrecking results.
Fevers begin to burn in the music as well, through riffing that begins to throb and jolt, and the soloing is as exotic as the song’s principal melody, but an order of magnitude more delirious and head-spinning.
The song also includes a mysterious and mesmerizing instrumental interlude, which gradually builds toward an extended scream, and from there to the electrifying pulse of madness and the sizzling boiling point of esoteric possession. But it ends in the land of hopelessness.
The vocals are of course relentlessly savage, and the drumming is a non-stop scene-stealer.
It’s a lot to ask of any song to follow that last one, and of course the one we’re premiering doesn’t actually follow “The Howling Silence” in the track list. There, it actually follows “Black Serpent Coils“. As you might guess from its title, “Sword of Mars“, it’s musical warfare.
Without prelude, it viciously jackhammers the spine and quickly spins out a pair of fret-melting solos, interspersed with explosive drum-fills, hair-raising screams, bursts of insectile guitar mania, further doses of thoroughly crazed soloing, and an even faster tempo shift.
There’s nary a moment for any calm breaths in this one. It’s just a pure adrenaline-fueled head-spinning death metal riot — and further proof that the album is packed with surprising twists and turns.
WARCRAB is:
Martyn Grant – Vocals
Rich Parker – Drums
Geoff Holmes – Lead Guitar
Leigh Jones – Guitar
Dave Symonds – Bass
Transcending Obscurity will release The Howling Silence on 8-panel digipack CD and digital formats, with a big assortment of apparel and related merch. It features the fantastic cover art of Feltnan Art, and T.O. recommends it for fans of: Bolt Thrower, Crowbar, Eyehategod, 71TonMan, and The Dead.
PRE-ORDER:
https://warcrabuk.bandcamp.com/album/the-howling-silence
http://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/
http://eu.tometal.com/
WARCRAB:
https://facebook.com/WarCrab666