EP REVIEW: Ugly As Hell – Wasted Death

Lockdown has created a lot of babies, both literally and metaphorically. WASTED DEATH is one of the metaphorical ones. The band formed as an idea from lead guitarist Wayne Adams. He explained that the band were the opposite of his big three projects that he has (PETBRICK, BIG LAD and COWER). Wanting to create something simple and direct, he hired Tom Brewins of USA NAILS as a drummer and Charlie Davis of BEGGAR for vocals. Describing their sound as the sweet spot between punk and metal, WASTED DEATH‘s debut EP is made up of five songs.

Thickened Skulls is the first song on the EP. Despite being only a minute and and fifteen seconds long, it is a fantastic opener. The drums and guitars are frantic. The vocals are loud and in-your-face. Unfortunately, because it is short, it ends before the listener can really appreciate it. On the other hand, the song sounds smooth and the tempo is fast.

Spat Out takes on a more gentle approach. Although it’s still got the energy of the previous song, it takes a more rock approach with the vocals. They are still brash and loud, but they are not screamo. Despite the change, the song fits the EP well, and does not ruin the pace of it. The production is where the song shines. It mixes the drums and guitar so well together to create an excellent pounding backing track. I’ll Feed It To You is an interlude song that feels like a part two to the first song. This is not a bad thing because – thanks to the previous song’s slow-ish tempo – this song fits right in. The brash song is the perfect return to business as usual.

Bumfuck Nowhere is an interesting song. It does an excellent job of mashing the previous songs of the EP in order to create a blend of clean and unclean vocals. However, the name of the song is slightly off-putting. Despite the odd choice of song name, the song itself is very good. It doesn’t ruin the pacing of the album, and – despite it being the penultimate song – does an excellent job of moving the EP forward in terms of sound.

May As Well Not is the best song on the EP. It takes all the best parts of the previous songs and creates a fantastic closing song. Thanks to the expert production, the song perfectly balances rock and metal. The rock influenced instruments complement the unclean metal vocals. The song does not ruin the pacing of the EP. In fact, it improves it.

In conclusion, despite the name of the EP, Ugly As Hell is anything but. WASTED DEATH have proven that – with careful attention to detail – a debut for any new band can be the next best thing. This EP has everything; perfect instrumentation, vocals and production. Bringing something new to the table, and showing that genres have no bounds, WASTED DEATH are a name to watch.

Rating: 7/10

Ugly As Hell is out now via APF Records.

Follow WASTED DEATH on Bandcamp.