ALBUM REVIEW: Liberation From A Brutalist Existence – Wanderer
Despite forming 2013 and releasing a string of EPs in the meantime, Minneapolis-based hardcore/grind/d-beat outfit WANDERER are only just about to release their debut album, Liberation From A Brutalist Existence. It’s been beset by delays, including lineup changes and the current most obvious one of all; the coronavirus pandemic.
Peddling a blend of hardcore, grind, d-beat and flourishes of death metal, the band draw on influences from the likes of CONVERGE, TRAP THEM and YAUTJA, amongst others. Comprising ten tracks in just 23 minutes, their debut is a furious firestorm of angular riffs, dissonance and animalistic vocals with speeds varying from the breakneck to the grinding mid-paced stomp of death metal.
Opener Marionette wastes no time; a churning riff with rumbling toms soon catapults the listener into a frenetic whirlwind of chaotic drums, angular guitars and vocals that switch between a deep roar and a caustic, punk-inflected screech. It soon switches the blistering pace for a slower, grinding stomp that’s every bit as brutal before collapsing into feedback.
Mind Leash is somehow even more vicious, a 53 second blast of almost blast beats and fills, jagged guitars and anguished howls. Though WANDERER don’t necessarily break the mould they create for themselves, it’s difficult to call it a formula given the unpredictability of songs. Abrasion is just that, an abrasive, swirling maelstrom that sits on the verge of collapsing in on itself while Bloom opens with a filthy, scuzzy bass courtesy of Jack Carlson that underpins the song throughout as new vocalist Dan Lee provides the larynx-shredding roars.
Drummer Mano Holgin is consistently excellent throughout, playing as if they possess eight limbs instead of the usual four and with flagrant disregard for anything as mundane as predictability. His manic assault on Decay veers from slow bludgeoning to neck-snapping speed. It’s almost certain a great many drumsticks were harmed in the making of this album.
It’s also worth drawing attention to the dizzying array of riffs in Brent Ericson’s arsenal, from the stop-start, juddering chaos of Mind Leash to the plodding churn of Hellhole. He’s got a riff or twelve for every occasion, and deploys them with wild abandon. It’s not the point of oversaturation though, as he clearly knows when a riff can be tortured into new forms such as on the aforementioned Hellhole.
Liberation From A Brutalist Existence is not a pretty album, by any means. It’s ugly, vicious, angular and abrasive throughout; given its themes of escapism, suicide, self-reflection, the concept of beauty, and existential trauma, this is perhaps hardly surprising. First single Contented, for example, is dissonant, switching pace from a rapid, driving beat to a slower grind, and deals with forcing yourself to accept abuse to keep alive a relationship that was doomed from the beginning. An emotionally and sonically heavy gutpunch, Liberation From A Brutalist Existence is everything WANDERER have been hinting towards across earlier EPs as well as bold statement of intent for things to come.
Rating: 8/10
Liberation From A Brutalist Existence is set for release on June 18th via Entelodon Records on LP & on cassette via Bad Mouth Recordings.
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