EP REVIEW: Wall – Wall

We’ve all channelled our lockdown frustrations into different creative avenues. Some have turned to baking hateful confections (banana bread), others have attempted to complete Netflix, and others still are working on making the British weekday binge drinking Olympic squad. Elliot and Ryan Cole have taken a more destructive approach and birthed a self-titled EP from new project WALL.

Those familiar with the UK stoner/doom underground scene may recognise the brothers Cole (and not just because they share the same face) from Oxfordian riff kings DESERT STORM or hard-rock quintet THE GRAND MAL. Though touching base with the deep set groove tendencies of these two ‘day job’ outfits, WALL grounds itself in rougher, often doomier sludge territory than either; a reflection of the bored, frustrated, and claustrophobic conditions that gave rise to the record.

Opener Wrath Of The Serpent creeps in through (fittingly) a wall of noise, rising through the fog of feedback into a hefty guitar/drums call and response. Fuzzy riffs snake into a slowly uncoiling groove, densely layered. Stepping up into a striding thrash gallop, the track knuckles down hard into a snorting drive peppered with dizzying blasts of riffs. Sonic Mass kicks off with sci-fi style Theremin noise and tolling, doomy chords, evoking similarities to fellow two-piece riffsmiths TUSKAR. The high-hit drive a toe-tapping rhythm throughout, as guitars pile on layers of ringing chords. Tribal toms pound away beneath needling riffs and bluesy licks, switching up restlessly, swinging toward a syrupy low groove before orbiting around doomy chords.

Obsidian channels the best of classic SLEEP intros with its ringing guitar notes and hammering drums as the riff begins to bounce. Burning, stoner-doom tone ascends and descends in lock step with shuffling drums before driving home on the back of a thumping, fist-pumping tom/kick pattern. Legion bursts into charging rhythms from the off, powered by skipping kick drums and a lean’n’mean riff. For those with a fever whose only prescription is ‘more cowbell’, Legion has you covered, powered through shades of KARMA TO BURN before jerking into an absolute face-melter of a riff that stands as the best on the record, before collapsing in a thresher of double-kick torrents and stop-start palm muted riffing.

Covers tend to fall into one of two categories – the strange and the serviceable, the former seeing bands put their own spin on a track, the latter a faithful rendition of the original. WALL‘s version of the BLACK SABBATH classic Electric Funeral is firmly the latter. The duo play things straight, letting the classic riffs of the original shine through with a little modern spit and polish helping things along, though THE GRAND MAL vocalist Dave-O’s layered vocal delivery dips a little bit close to BEE GEES territory now and again.

Gloriously simplified, but never simplistic, a guaranteed foot-stomper throughout thanks to its ballsy riffs and relentless rhythms, WALL‘s debut is exactly what we need as the hangover from 2020 subsides; a no-nonsense, well brewed shot of fuzzed out warmth and buzzing adrenaline to chase those winter blues away.

Rating: 7/10

Wall is set for release on January 15th via APF Records. 

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