Review Summary: Diminishing returns, but one hell of a first ride.
On their Spotify page, Wargasm left the following mission statement on their newest release: “We hope it makes you feel something”. Mission accomplished.Through the project’s tight forty minute runtime, I indeed
felt something.
I felt—and feel—respect for Wargasm after listening to
Venom. Whatever the LP’s faults, Wargasm attempt to try something new—without shame for their metal tendencies. Sleep Token should take note. Wargasm happily mix electronica, pop, and hip-hop with 90s-styled metallic crunch. They’re no Behemoth, but this is music designed for the mosh pit—even if that pit basks in disco light. For that, I’m grateful. Their dual vocal approach acts as more than a Linkin Park copy; Milkie Way's vocals are airier and clear; Sam Matlock's clean pipes are deeper and more resonant, while he provides much of the throaty howling present here.
Aside from respect, I felt a good deal of excitement and confidence listening through the disc (or digital sound file, I’m going to say disc, get off my ***ing lawn). Tracks like the title track, “Minigun”, and “Bang Ya Head (featuring Fred Durst)” erupt with chunky guitar riffs, satisfying quiet/loud dynamics, spastic synth parts, and dueling vocal parts. The choruses in these songs are miniature shots of adrenaline, encapsulated by even larger shots of caffeinated sugar. “Minigun” features a death metal-styled breakdown, complete with thrashing drums and a fuzzy tremolo riff. “Bang Ya Head”, the best track here, boasts a satisfying bounce, a catchy chorus, solid rap parts courtesy of Mr. Nookie himself, and an explosive bridge and outro. It also bears mentioning that there’s some fantastic production tricks—be it layered vocals, buried synth lines, a muted guitar, or some other bit of ***ery—in these tracks and throughout the record.
I felt plenty of bewilderment and intrigue through the proceedings as well. Tracks like “Death Rattle”, “Do It So Good”, “Modern Love”, and “Sonic Dog Tag” go out of their way to break a bit out of the heavier mold. The chorus of “Modern Love”, for instances, forsakes the traditional chants and screams of much of the album’s choruses in favor of an alt-pop styled, candy-coated melody. In an album of rowdy choruses, it’s nice to get a change in pace. The song in general takes more of a pop route, while still maintaining a low level of biting ferocity.
“Death Rattle”, in contrast, is the perfect display of wasted potential. It’s a dystopic sex song; the band begs the listener to envisage ***ing the *** out of their partner(s) as Elon Musk’s fifth beach home burns down around them. It’s a great concept, but the dumb censor beeps in the chorus—placed there by the band—is both annoying and off-brand. Look at the ***ing album cover. Does this look like a band that practices self-censorship? The track sonically takes more of a reserved, industrial approach to things, before erupting into a thick, bassy bridge. These sonics deserved better execution of a solid concept. Still, the line “if we’re going down, then we’re going down the right way” is a clever bit of innuendo.
I felt exhaustion and disappointment too. Tracks like “S.A.D” and “Ride The Thunder” don’t quite make the grade; the former is an inferior musical and lyrical rip on NIN’s “Wish”, while the latter isn’t interesting enough to make a standout cut.
The lyrics can get exhausting as well. At times, their hyperbolic tendencies (“My head’s a hemorrhage… spitting blood like venom”; “Pull back your skin, invite me in, I wanna taste another artery”) work to enhance the deliciously mad sonic surroundings. At times, the band wields this writing to earnestly describe a sparring couple (“Sonic Dog Tag”). Other times, the lyrics produce diminishing returns, especially when there’s not much lyrical variety on hand to begin with. After all, this band does play around a lot with Harley Quinn-esque, “It’s so fun to be ***ed up” imagery. Some of this content works, but too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.
In the end, then, Wargasm made me feel something: excited, intrigued, but conflicted. I enjoy their blend of noughties nu with industrial, electronica, pop, and hip-hop. In an age of nu-metal revival, these cats are strong torch-bearers. I also wish they’d work a bit on lyrical refinement and establishing an identity beyond “we’re ***ed up but we’re having fun”. Such an identity is that of a sugar high; it’ll get you pretty damn far in the moment, then leave you crashing.
