The Pitch: A project reportedly born as an outlet for trauma, metalcore/screamo act Wristmeetrazor drops surprisingly interesting new album via Prosthetic Records. FFO: Zao, The Bled, Haste The Day
What I Like: Despite their edgy boi band name, Wristmeetrazor ended up being right up my alley. This is a group that gets a number of things right, especially honing in on and sticking to a point. With tracks averaging just over 2 minutes, there's little room for filler. Vein-y, electrofied riffs, MySpace-era throwbacks, and raw, Zao-ish vocals all make for a sufficiently heavy experience that is also seriously moody. There's a duplicitous nature to the music that leads to a certain level of unpredictability. One can never tell when the band will break into a sudden bout of disjointed, amelodic singing or spoken word. And slowing things down, "Come On In, The Water's Pink" has Deftones influence written all over it with its melancholic atmosphere and electronic additions that leak into noise interlude "Goodbye Sweet Betty." The pacing of this all works out very well, sinking into a depression just long enough to let the screeching Frontierer hooks of later tracks like "He Smiled From Ear To Ear" pack an extra punch.
Critiques: The spoken word is a bit much at times. In small doses it can be effective as evidenced by some of my favorite Poison The Well tracks, but for a 21 minute album the ratio seems too high.
The Verdict: Misery Never Forgets is an album that really gripped me a lot more than I initially expected. It's well-written and relatively unique in this current era of metalcore. Wristmeetrazor are another band that feel like they belong in a time since past when the likes of The Bled and Haste The Day still roamed freely. That may not be your bag, but it most certainly is mine.
Flight's Fav's: Loathsome, XOXO (Love Letter From A Loaded Gun), He Smiled From Ear To Ear
- Review by FlightOfIcarus
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