Review: Warbringer – Wrath and Ruin
Feel the Wrath!
For a while now, California-based Warbringer have been a regular name in the modern thrash scene and have been around for over 20 years. With 6 albums released throughout their career they’ve made a noticeable evolution in their sound, progressing into similar territories as Kreator from Violent Revolution onward. Now 5 years after their last album, Weapons of Tomorrow, they are onto their 7th effort with Wrath and Ruin.
The album gets off to an energetic start with the hard-hitting opener “The Sword and The Cross.” Like a castle ambush, the track comes out swinging with the raging vocals of John Kevill and blitzing guitar solos. The energy continues marching up with “A Better World,” which shows off the band’s ferocious riffs that have a bit of a melodic death metal edge to them that I like. This is such a strong start to the album—it seems like Warbringer are a lot tighter on this effort. Unfortunately, the momentum is lost with “Neuromancer” which is probably the weakest track on the album as it feels too long and uninspired, making it a slog to get through. Even the nice solo doesn’t save the track for me.
The album rebounds with “The Jackhammer” which is a full-frontal assault of a track that feels like one for the moshpits; again the solos keep coming and they’re very welcome. Another slower track comes in next with “Through a Glass, Darkly,” but this one felt a lot better and more interesting than “Neuromancer” was. It has better variety shown here with a bit of a gothic vibe in the sound and the vocals sometimes veer into black metal, which is a departure, but it works.
Wrath and Ruin’s best track comes in the form of “Strike from the Sky” which blazes like a napalm strike with its fast pace and riffs. I also like the use of high pitch screams that give off a Slayer vibe on this song. “Cage of Air” is another pretty cool track that—while probably a little bloated—has a good variety in the guitars and drums. Another lengthy song comes in to close out the album with “The Last of My Kind,” again carrying on the style of the previous track. While I didn’t mind both tracks at the end, it does feel like closing the album with two 6-minute songs is probably too much. It also makes the climax of the album feel overall bloated and dampens the spark a bit.
Warbringer’s 7th album overall shows off a tale of two halves that consists of a good number of strong tracks that I’ve liked when listening through the album. They’re at their best with tracks such as “The Sword and The Cross,” “A Better World,” and “Strike from the Sky.” However, it also has its noticeable weak spots with “Neuromancer” being a mediocre track that kills the momentum/pacing that the first two tracks built. While I did think the last two tracks had some cool moments, they felt too similar in their style and length, making the record’s conclusion feel less exciting than it should be. I don’t think I enjoyed this as much as 2013’s IV: Empires Collapse and probably won’t revisit this one as much; however, the best tracks on this album really stand out making Wrath and Ruin one of their better efforts.
3/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell
Wrath and Ruin releases March 14 via Napalm Records.
