ALBUM REVIEW: Wake, "Devouring Ruin"

By: Josh McIntyre

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 27/03/2020

Label: Translation Loss

“Devouring Ruin” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Dissolve And Release
2. Kana Tevoro (Kania! Kania!)
3. This Abyssal Plain
4. Elegy
5. Mouth Of Abolition
6. Paean
7. Torchbearer
8. In The Lair Of The Rat Kings
9. Monuments to Impiety
10. The Procession (Death March To Eternity)

The Review:

Calgary’s Wake has certainly proven themselves to be a band that doesn’t want to repeat itself. Their sound has always been a bit more varied than others and with 2020’s “Devouring Ruin” it is made absolute that Wake cannot be defined as just grindcore or even deathgrind as they pull from other heavy subgenres more than ever before. The result is their strongest LP to date.

Wake is still incredibly aggressive, but we have more variance than ever. The average song length has increased dramatically (earlier, more strictly grind albums had songs that rarely reached three minutes) giving more time for riffs to twist and turn as they travel across time. Track three, “This Abyssal Plain”, is just one example of drastic tempo changes as it starts with a fury before being suddenly slogged down into a more doomy and atmospheric approach. These songs are unpredictable and that makes them all the more interesting, whether they be two minutes long or ten and a half.

Musical ideas are aplenty and Wake isn’t running out of gas anytime soon. Blasting grind with thrashy riffs are as prevalent as melodic doom licks. The riffs for “In the Lair of the Rat Kings” are especially disgusting, pulling from the Artificial Brain/Gorguts world. Hell, there’s even a great guitar solo on “Mouth of Abolition” and I usually detest guitar solos. In short, there is plenty of time to have your face ripped apart on this album but the juxtaposed moments of euphonious purpose give it the clarity needed to be a grand extreme metal record.

Wake’s refusal for stagnation has set them apart from their peers. After a handful of LPs and shorter releases they continue to grow and stay musically curious, a rarity for an extreme band over a decade old. They’ve gradually moved from a more grindcore oriented group to one that brilliantly fuses different elements of metal to create music that is able to be simultaneously violent and downright ravishing. 

“Devouring Ruin” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

FOR THOSE ABOOT TO ROCK: Riffs of Canada with Wake [Calgary, Alberta]

By: Mark Tremblay

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 23/02/2018

Label: Translation Loss

“Misery Rites” is a standout contemporary extreme metal record one of the most punishing heavy music albums of the year so far.

“Misery Rites” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Exhumation

2). Misery Rites

3). Embers

4). Rot

5). Paradigm Rot

6). Exile

7). Rumination

8). Bitter Winter

9). Burial Ground

The Review:

Canada’s most complex grindcore band returns with “Misery Rites”. Taking a lot of what the band had previously done on “Sowing the Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow”, and further pushing elements of black and death metal. The album is one of the most punishing heavy music albums of the year so far.

From the very start, the record opens on a different path. The sludge riffs on “Exhumation” would make Primitive Man proud. In true grind fashion, however, the album is still full of blast-beats. They are interspersed with moments of dissonant death metal riffage; “Paradigm Lost” and “Exile” utilize this structure in a way that make the heaviest moments stand out. This band really excels at building peaks and valleys in its music for the listener.

Drummer Josh Bueckert really stands out on this record. The drum patterns create a lot of surprising twists and turns. The continual motion on tracks like “Burial Ground” showcase a variety in drum patterns rarely heard in heavy music. “Misery Rites” is a standout contemporary extreme metal record that sees this band moving further into other forms of heavy music, and finding their unique sound

“Misery Rites” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

Wake - "Sowing The Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow" (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 26/02/2016

Label: Sentient Ruin Laboratories

“Wretched Tongues” offers the first taste of the unexpected when its mid-section collapses into pummelling, weighty doom - ominous open chords pierced through with shards of jagged guitar. “Drones” adds death-metal flourishes into the mix while “Better Living Through Apathy” has what could almost be deemed a chorus - memorable bursts of two chord punk-rock anger bubbling to surface above the relentless drumming.

“Sowing The Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow” CS//CD//DD track listing:

1. Burn Well
2. Wretched Tongues
3. Drones
4. Better Living Through Apathy
5. Low
6. Unrelenting Hate
7. Vultures
8. Endless Decay

The Review:

When an LP tears through 8 songs in twenty minutes you know it’s not going to be pretty. “Sowing The Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow” is the latest album from Calgary hellraisers, Wake and it’s a fast, ugly ride.

The album rips into life with the raging “Burn Well”. This sets expectations for a solid, no-frills grindcore album in the vein of Nasum, but Wake don’t stick to the script. The band is devastating when unleashing blast-fuelled punishment, but it’s the moments when they stray from the path that really elevate them.

“Wretched Tongues” offers the first taste of the unexpected when its mid-section collapses into pummelling, weighty doom - ominous open chords pierced through with shards of jagged guitar. “Drones” adds death-metal flourishes into the mix while “Better Living Through Apathy” has what could almost be deemed a chorus - memorable bursts of two chord punk-rock anger bubbling to surface above the relentless drumming. “Low” begins with spidery guitars and subdued, skittering drums, bringing a Keelhaul-style math-rock feel to proceedings. Blastbeats soon make their presence felt again, transforming the song into an unusual, but effective, melding of styles and providing the album’s highlight.

“Sowing The Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow” covers more ground in twenty minutes then most bands do in double that and completely slays in the process. Wake put themselves above the competition here and set the standard for quality grindcore in 2016.

“Sowing The Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow” is available here

Band info: facebook