Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 06:16 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: Black Metal
Country: U.S.A.
Label: Profound Lore Records
Year: 2020
Wayfarer are one of these pioneers that break the rules and stereotypes. This is something I appreciate in a band that its members win the honor to be called real artists. Black metal, even in its “post” version has offered many rebels that wrote music out of the box and of course many extreme acts, but Wayfarer takes another personal path. Without losing in terms of extremity, they chose to invest in atmosphere not as in creating a provocative or evil environment, but on a cinematic construction of their songs.
A Romance With Violence could have been a soundtrack to a classic spaghetti western (not in the legendary Ennio Morricone epic motif though) as easily could also be a Tarantino’s or a B side horror movie placed in the Wild West. It is just like you are transferred somewhere in 19th century in a small town in the heart of the United States, with strange geography including alpine mountains, high plains, deserts with huge sand dunes and deep canyons, like their homeland Colorado. A state that also gave birth to many remarkable bands like Death metal veterans Cephalic Carnage, Thrash-heroes Havok, Doom-Heavy metallers Khemmis, the new hot name in Death metal Blood Incantation and Relapse’s sludgy misanthropists Primitive Man.
This is their 4th full length studio effort, coming two years after the brilliant World’s Blood. This time they managed to deliver a sonic spectrum of methods and means that works by attributing vivid imagery when listening to it. It is up to you whether you do that with your eyes closed or opened. Their technique is rather simple, even though the final result is highly-demanding. They mix “Cascadian” nature-inspired atmospheric black metal values, hypnotic riffs, frantic blast beats and savage melodies, with folk desperado/“Americana” elements dipped into darkness, creating an apocalyptic soundtrack that is flirting with Agalloch and Panopticon, best moments.
The whole album in its entirety of course is a highlight; no song can shine brighter than the other. This searing silver-screen requiem for the myth of the West is a must buy for all fans of intelligent extreme music and brave music vision enthusiasts.
