Warbringer - Wrath And Ruin

This is 21st century thrash, for better or for worse. I had been loosely aware of bands like Municipal Waste and Lamb of God in college, but by and large I thought that thrash metal had been left behind in the old millennium by the heavy underground. Warbringer are new to me, but they've been grinding it out on the metal circuit since the mid-00s and just put out something that sounds lively, contemporary, and righteously angry.

For the purposes of full disclosure, I play bass in a band with one of the guys at Napalm Records who did press for this album. However, he also did press for Wind Rose, and I can assure you that I won't be reviewing those guys any time soon. He didn't ask me to review this, but he did recommend me the album on streaming when it first came out. The press campaign for Wrath and Ruin is long over, and I bought this for $20 retail at Found Sound in Ferndale.

"The Sword and the Cross" sets the tone Wrath and Ruin lyrically and sonically. It starts with a slow, pounding unison melody, and then the classic thrash gallop comes in and builds intensity until the verse starts. The riffs and lyrics are cruel and punishing. "Thou shall toil upon the soil/And I shall reap reward/By right of might I crown myself/The nobility of the sword". Though the nature of The Man has changed, he's been keeping the people down in the same way for all of recorded history. The cover art is a quite literal depiction of our encroaching techno-feudalism, with airships circling a marble cathedral, high atop a rusted skyscraper, looking out onto a blasted landscape.

The lyrics of Wrath and Ruin are a treat if you like a good pseudo-Shakespearian couplet. It helps that John Kevill usually has something interesting to say. "Cage of Air" might be the first 'phone bad' song that elicited something more than an eye roll in me. That song also shows the guitarists reaching into their bag of black metal tricks, giving the song enough oomph to justify its nearly 7 minute runtime. My personal favorite song on the record is the source of the album title, tirade against American imperialism "Strike From The Sky". The searing, high pitched screams of "Strike!". the insistent and slightly off-kilter main riff, and some primo soloing make it the one song that stays with me the most.

Warbringer are over-tuned, liable to lose their way if they slow down too much. "Through A Glass, Darkly" interprets a poem by Gen. George Patton to less Christian ends. It's a plodding number, but it has some cool guitar harmonies and a very shoutable chorus. "Neuromancer" is the only genuine strikeout here. The album closes out with "The Last of My Kind" which I'd imagine would be a bit ironic live. On tour, Warbringer bring together a group of sweaty, passionate heshers for a singular purpose, to shake their fists and shout "On the path I tread/There are none but I". A multitude proclaiming their solitudes. One hopes that there are more where Warbringer came from, and that fast riffs and righteous fury remain a familiar tool in the underground metal kit.

Those who regularly read my blog (all four of you) know I'm usually reviewing stuff from the bargain bin. If I'm paying for a new CD, I want it to look and feel professional in my hand, and Wrath and Ruin feels really good. I like the way it opens to their "W" logo. I particularly like how each of the three panels of the digipak has a functional two-way pocket (holding CDs and the pretty lyric booklet). Oh, and if you're like me and this is your first Warbringer album, there's a whole 15-track bonus disc of live performances from previous albums to get you started. Happy thrashing.

Wrath and Ruin by Warbringer is a good album, and I like it.