Wraiths – Hollow EP

Rising from the North East of England, Wraiths describe themselves as “emerged from a swampy pit of sadness and despair, wielding their self described ‘Hell Metal’ to portray the darkest imagining of the human conscience” when talking about their formation and cause. It’s safe to say that this is no exaggeration, the music the Middlesbrough mob put forth is an uncomfortable and brutal cacophony of rage and suffering, executed expertly with killer instrumentals, demonstrated perfectly within their latest release the Hollow E.P after their debut offering Wraiths self-titled e.p.

Godslayer sets the precedent of the e.p within a second as the visceral and spine-tinglingly raw vocals pierce through your ear drums, quickly followed by the doom-mongering chords racing quickly then coming to an abrupt and sludgy halt. The tone of the track immediately sets your nerves on edge with the deep and booming bass against a high pitched cacophony of guitars downtuned to within an inch of their lives, though this is just the beginning of the e.p’s aural journey.

Malignation and Gravelord steps it up a notch further encapsulating perfectly the industrial area this band are from with resonating and almost psychedelic interludes with a metallic edge on the guitars and bass, as well as the crashing of drums like a hammer moulding steel to its will as Wraiths mould your movement to the tempo of these effortlessly brutal tracks.

Wraiths are not just a band all about creating the darkest musical creations they can however, despite the title, Devoured has an almost groovy feel to it would you believe with a fast and repetitive tempo that instantly makes the body convulse with a choral background and eerie sound effects creating an all over thoroughly experimental track and one that shows the true talent and macabre surrounding this band as it’s so out of place being almost sexy despite its content lyrically, it is thoroughly uncomfortable.

Closing track Belial is the perfect atmospheric end to this solid release and thoroughly cements why this band can create their own genre surrounding their sound. It’s easy to imagine that this track is on the Devil’s own Ipod when going about his daily business of evil as from the very first second every single thing about the track is dark and bad to the bone. The vocals are visceral and face melting; the guitars razor sharp and deeper than a demons belows, the bass is enough to render you breathless and the drums louder than the apocalypse right up until its slow and sombre finish.

With a release like this, it won’t be long until Wraiths’ very own brand of hell metal will be imprinted in everyone’s ears not only because it’s a truly unique and unforgettable release, but because hard work and dedication that is shown in such a well crafted release is bound to propel them further than even they could comprehend, and hopefully sooner rather than later.