ALBUM REVIEW: WyndRider – WyndRider
Emerging from the mountains of East Tennessee with an infectious and raw stoner doom sound is WYNDRIDER. After releasing their debut single, the demo version of Electrophilia in May last year, the quartet wasted no time in touring the wider regional area, travelling across North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia, and Ohio to unleash music upon the masses. WYNDRIDER’s self-titled debut album showcases a band with determination, ambition and passion, as heavy doom fuses with bluesy psychedelia to create a raw album that has a snarling bite to it. With lyrical themes covering the apocalypse, alien life, the Satanic Panic, and the sarcastic dissection of the Christian Church, WYNDRIDER take you on a sonic journey to the astral plains and straight back down to hell with a little chaos in between.
Influenced by the likes of BLACK SABBATH, STEPPENWOLF and BUDGIE, coupled with the bluesy tradition of the Tennessee region, WYNDRIDER’s sound is certainly one that’ll pique your interest. With an emphasis on rawness and capturing their live presence in the studio environment, WyndRider is wonderfully raw album. You can hear the fuzz and overdrive working overtime as they deliver fiery doom riffs which lean into the old school influence of BLACK SABBATH as there is a real warmth to the fuzz that consumes you much like those early SABBATH records. The band have balanced this with eerie psychedelic atmospheres which add a shadowy splendour to the album, making this an all-encompassing record that doesn’t hesitate to thrust you into this hazy world that WYNDRIDER have created.
Accompanying the raw riffing power that is wielded by Robbie Willis (guitar) and Joshuwah Herald (bass) is the equally powerful and captivating voice of Chloe Gould (vocals). With her hypnotic melodies, enchanting delivery and thought-provoking lyrics, Gould provides the deep, scarlet red cherry on the top of the cake. You can feel her voice resonate through you as she discusses the many realms of existence and the life beyond this planet. Their haunting tones leave an indelible mark on you and fire up your mind in philosophical thought about heaven and hell.
Musically, this is a very strong album. WYNDRIDER have taken considerable time to really build and develop these songs to create the strongest debut that they could possibly muster, which they have done. Only one issue with the album’s production hampers the listening experience, and that is that Gould’s vocals seem to be sat in the background when the wall of riffs really ramps up and you sometimes have to strain to hear the aforementioned brilliant lyrics. Even though it does lend itself more to the psychedelic areas of the album, creating a spacey feel, it’s just in those harder hitting sections you’d want that to be more balanced so they can have the desired impact.
The album opens up with a suitably Sabbathian introduction with Pit Witch, and the devil certainly feels summoned as dark chromaticism hits you with an almighty whack. This subsides into a quite psychy section before ramping up again – WYNDRIDER really nail these dynamic shifts throughout the album. Snake Children carries on the theme of devil’s tritone sounding riffs as the methodical pounding of Richard Bucher’s drums adds a significant weight to the riffs and drives the song forward. Creator taps into that New Orleans sludge sound; dark and constantly shifting, you can feel the shadowy creator antagonist placing their icy grip on your shoulders as the riffs create a dizzying effect as they swirl around you. Strangled By Smoke is a bit more sombre in its approach; with emotive vocals over slow trudging riffs you can feel an overwhelming weight of melancholy transcending the song.
Mother In Horns is everything you love about the more southern sounding stoner songs, with a SLEEP-style riff that trips your brain with the amount of fuzz it’s drenched in. The album version of Electrophilia is reminiscent of Master Of Reality era BLACK SABBATH, with ascending and descending riffs accompanied by long, powerful chord sequences. Psyched out interlude track Sleeping Wizard is an eerie moment of calm before WYNDRIDER launch into their seven-and-a-half-minute space trip, album closer Space Paper / Acid Saloon, which brings together all the strongest elements of the album into one stoner doom epic.
Considering that this is a debut release, WYNDRIDER show a chemistry and cohesion of a band that’s been going much longer than a year or two. With tight performances and well written songs, it is safe to say that the album is building a strong foundation for them to burst into the global stoner doom scene. With their interesting and raw mix of heavy doom and bluesy psychedelia, WYNDRIDER are sure to pique your interest.
Rating: 7/10
WyndRider is set for release on March 31st via self-release.
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