Wretched put out a pretty tasty platter of deathcore mayhem on 2010's Beyond the Gate, and here we are in 2012 pondering whether their latest Victory Records release Son of Perdition will help the band take things to the next level. Has the band upped the ante on a technical level? Are the songs memorable yet still brutal enough? Has new vocalist Adam Cody stepped up to the plate and made his presence felt?
Well, yes and no. Son of Perdition is by no means any more or less technical than Beyond the Gate, but this is still precision death metal influenced by the Gothenberg scene, chock full of tasty riffage, sledgehammer rhythms, well played guitar solos, and a hint of melody. Cody delivers a variety of extreme styles, from deep growls, to inhuman bellows, to higher pitched screams, and fits right in here. The first half of the CD features breakneck, brutal numbers such as "Imminent Growth", "Repeat... The End Is Near", and "Dilated Disappointment", all kick ass songs that may not set the world on fire with originality but are damn well satisfying extreme metal fare. "Dreams of Chaos" is a more melodic track that takes the Arch Enemy formula of including super melodic yet virtuoso guitar solos throughout to complement the tortured growls. The real surprise however is the three part "The Stellar Sunset Of Environment", which sees the band veer off into proggy Opeth meets Obscura territory, letting their instrumental talents really shine. I'd like to hear much more of this side of the band in the future. Even closer "Decimation" sees that atmospheric & progressive death metal side creep out into the open, so I'm guessing that Wretched is a band in transition as they are looking at moving away from their deathcore beginnings and morphing into something much more sophisticated.
Half of Son of Perdition is kind of what we expected from Wetched, the other half a surprising turn of events. Either way this is a very solid release and leaves me very curious as to what is going to come next from the band.
Track Listing
1. Oblivion
2. Imminent Growth
3. At The First Sign Of Rust
4. Dilated Disappointment
5. Repeat... The End Is Near
6. Dreams Of Chaos
7. The Stellar Sunset Of Environment Pt. 1 (The Silence)
8. The Stellar Sunset Of Environment Pt. (The Rise)
9. The Stellar Sunset Of Environment Pt. 3 (The Son Of Perdition)
10. Karma Accomplished
11. Decimation
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