Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 11:05 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: Black Metal, Country, Americana
Country: U.S.A.
Label: Profound Lore Records, Century Media Records
Year: 2023
In music business everything has been played, everything has been mixed; everything seems to have been said and done. And then you think why no one hasn’t blend americana with black metal? Why we should reach 2020 and the brilliant ‘A Romance with Violence’ from Wayfarer to hear something so unique but at the same time so obvious and in front of our eyes…Despite the fact that the factor of surprise isn’t present any more still there are so many aces on the band’s sleeves. So in this 5th studio full length (third album with longtime partners Profound Lore Records in North America and first for Century Media in Europe) from Colorado’s finest the one and only Wayfarer, everything even the title of the album ‘American Gothic’ sets expectations high. Speaking of the title it’s is like the band making a defining statement of Western heavy music that explores the dark soul of the nation itself. Once again the band’s sound draws from the deep wells of black metal, gothic, country, and americana – creating a thunderous and uniquely American genre of metal all to their own. The structure of the album is unsullied, there are still long tracks here, but only one above 10 minutes (‘Romance’ had four), longer and heavier tracks take place at the beginning and the end (the opener ‘The Thousand Tombs Of Western Promise’ is probably one of the greatest songs coming this year), while heavy riffing enriches the middle of the LP (‘To Enter My House Justified’) side by side with atmospheric gems like ‘A High Plains Eulogy’ and ‘1934’. Another highlight is the production of Arthur Rizk (Eternal Champion, Kreator). The pointed song writing is based on powerful lyrics, barrage of riffs, gloomy melodies and a dismal narration that captures perfectly the dust, the sweat, the blood and the gunpowder that the American land is watered down and flavors the stories of its people.
“What we have now is a world full of oil drillers, and railroad barons. Cattle thieves and company men. This is the new American Gothic.”
