ALBUM REVIEW: Trigger The Short-Fused – Walfang
In the last few years, Belgian quartet WALFANG have established their sound as being anything but typical in that they blend in genres relating to everything noise rock, post-punk and more, all the while creating music that is powerful, yet openly vulnerable and emotional.
A fact that is evident from start to finish with latest album Trigger The Short-Fused. Despite the record being relatively short with only nine songs, each track will leave an impact on you and leave you in a sense of awe, in wonderment. To open things up we have Probably Sand, a track which starts out with a slow, moody bass and guitar strumming in a garage rock style, before the full band comes in and creates something that blends between alternative, garage and anthemic rock with every second feeling melodic and well put together, with some comparison to that of BIFFY CLYRO’s heavier songs. Furthermore, you can’t help but picture an epic music video to go alongside it, or even just the visuals to played in background during a live show.
Each song on the record as its own distinct sound, emotion and, we’d even go as far as to say, personality. The only similarity seen across each track is the background droning noise that seems to be the catalyst that brings in the different experimental sections together. For example, the song Eerie opens with a soft, ethereal rock composition, leaving you in a trancelike state with it’s calming, yet haunting atmosphere. You’re left thinking that this is the set style for the whole song…and then you’re proven completely wrong when the full band kicks off into a loud composition that blends drone and alternative rock, with some emo rock also thrown in! And then before the song is over, we can enjoy a fun melodic rock breakdown that’s just the perfect ending for a stunning track.
And even then, there’s so much more to enjoy about this record. Whether it’s Soaring, a song with an apt title that leaves you feeling like you’re an eagle flying through the sky during this, relatively, calm alternative rock sound; Japanese Emperor, that, much like Eerie, goes off in different directions and experiments with sounds not heard yet on this record which a fast blend of metalcore, grunge, industrial and anthemic rock that, if we had to sum it up, would be what would happen if the FOO FIGHTERS experimented with a heavier, grungier sound; and No Season, which features another example of WALFANG’s stunning blend of grunge and garage where they differentiate this song with a industrial meets nu-metal vocal effects, concluded beautifully with a solid breakdown.
Stunning, outside the box, and creative. WALFANG are in a league of their own and we wouldn’t be surprised that they become a staple in the rock community in years to come and go on to inspire more artists to think outside the norm.
Rating: 9/10
Trigger The Short-Fused is out now via Barley Records.
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