Premiere: WAN – “Fistful of Metal”
Good morning and welcome back to Toilet ov Hell’s prestigious Premiere series. We hope you have those iPhones handy, because our current contestant is polling the audience. The question: If you stumbled upon a song called “Fistful of Metal” in a dark alley, would that song be a) tight trouser ripping thrash metal, b) leather and fur codpieced heavy metal, or c) butt-wrecking first wave black metal? Send us those answers and let’s see what the crowd thinks in today’s excellent premiere from the fiery WAN.
Okay, Gloria, let’s take a look at those answers.
Oh wow, only 17% of the audience went with heavy metal. So, what’s it gonna be, contestant?
Well, Chuck, I gotta go with my gut here. My answer is c) first wave black metal.
And the correct genre is:
UGH! First Wave Black Metal
That’s right, “Fistful of Metal,” the fourth track off the upcoming mini album Gammal är äldst, Swedish for “Let’s drink gasoline and drown this city in trash!” Gammal är äldst finds the defiant Swedes, now a fourpiece after line-up changes between beer-soaked’n’blasphemous LPs, doing little to deviate from the path they’ve tread thus far.
From the very first “OOUGH!” croaked out by vocalist Tsjud, you know exactly what to expect. Thrashy, cranky-ass riffs, courtesy of guitarist Isengrim will keep you headbanging from front to back. A rough and tumble rhythm performance, delivered by two hopped up rodents of unusual size named Drægg (drums) and Skoll (bass), keeps the energy high, an absolute must for a track this short. There are no lulls or interludes here, just balls out aggression evoking Celtic Frost or Hellhammer.
It’s really the loose, depraved energy that ties the whole track together; WAN clearly worship at Venom‘s throne, and they want you to remember that as the noisy riffs crash over you and Tsjud taunts and cajoles you into chanting along to “FISTFUL OF METAL!” The power and energy here are not to be denied, novelty and originality be damned.
FISTFUL OF METAL!
Gammal är äldst drops December 21st via Carnal Records. You can pre-order it on Bandcamp here and catch up with the band on Facebook here.