Review Summary: A great improvement to their already original sound
The Flenser, a dark music label from San Francisco, has been releasing some truly fantastic albums this year. Starting off with the return of Have a Nice Life with The Unnatural World, and following it up with the noise extravaganza of White Suns Totem (“My Gods face is made of mirrors!”). But the 2014 release Want, is what I have been craving for ever since its first announcement. What makes Wreck and Reference standout from the other great bands on The Flenser’s roster, is their refreshing approach to instrumentation. Swapping out the traditional rock instrumentation of electric guitar and bass, for heavily affected synths and samples.
Electronics aren't a new inclusion to the rock/metal genre as a whole, but their exclusive use (except for drums) mixed with the bands vast array of incorporated influences lead to them being a truly original entity, which can feel at home playing with both Black and Doom metal bands, but also Noise Rock and experimental artists.
Want retains the furiosity of their past two releases No Youth and No Content, but incorporates more ambient and electronic moments; The textures lean more to being sparse and detailed rather than thick and distorted, leading to the tracks being more dynamic and climatic, rather than a metallic punch to the face. I think this works massively in this albums favor, as songs retain the anger which made their previous albums so enjoyable, but adds room to breath which I feel was lacking from moments in No Youth. This leads to the songs having greater emotional build up, and creates an atmosphere of ethereal paranoia.
This atmosphere can be seen in my favorite track on the album, ‘A Tax’, which was initially shown to us as a snippet in the albums teaser trailer (which is probably why I was so excited for this album). The track begins as a lush soundscape, full of strings, brass, ambient swells and spoken word vocals. But as drums and screamed vocals are introduced, this golden haze of instrumentation takes on a momentum which is surprisingly heavy (emotionally) for a track with such sparse timbres. Reminding me of Tim Hecker’s previous releases, which are also minimalist in their approach, yet manage to carry a lot of emotional weight.
As the soundscape fades away, the choir sample of the track ‘Flies’ introduces itself in a manner which can only be described as epic. A direct contrast to the shoe-gaze elements of ‘A Tax’, this almost over dramatic beginning should instantly put a smile on your face.
For a band playing with genres such as post-metal/rock and ambient, the tracks on Want are surprisingly no bul***. Though I would love to see a lengthy track from these guys, I can’t deny that it makes the songs much more direct and memorable, and makes the album as a whole much easier to digest. This is comparable to Altar of Plagues previous album (which I personally consider to be perfect), where the shortened song lengths made the album a much more holistic experience.
Though some tracks do tend to abruptly end, such as ‘Apollo under the Whip’, I feel this shortened approach to songwriting makes them standout from their peers writing ten minute Neurosis songs. Thankfully these abrupt tracks are in the minority, as overall I think the songwriting has massively improved since No Youth. Case and point the last track ‘Apologies’, is Wreck and Reference’s lengthiest track to date (just under six minutes), and has a very cohesive structure with its ambient interlude in the middle and the repeated use of “Surrender!” at the end. A very fitting closer to the album.
The overall production is fantastic, easily the best they have ever sounded. The drums are much thicker than on No Youth, and are played excellently on tracks like ‘Stranger, Fill This Hole In Me’ with its almost glitchy hi-hat rhythm at the start of the track. The sounds and samples as previously mentioned are great, all the layers to them can be heard and are what makes this album so great, making it have a high replay album.
Vocally, this is quite a diverse record, as both members contribute to the vocals. Ignat contributes these gruff pained yells, which can be heard throughout the first track Corpse Museum. Felix uses spoken word vocals which add to the sense of paranoia, and these very emotive black metal/hardcore screams which just chill you to the bone, which is best represented at the end of the track ‘Convalescence’.
As a whole this album is exactly what I expected from Wreck and Reference, an improvement of their already unique sound. The only flaws I can see is a few tracks could be argued to be cut too short, but this may be just my love for lengthy tracks talking.
Score - 9/10
Favorite Tracks - A Tax, Apologies, Bankrupt, Flies, Machine of Confusion.
Least Favorite Track - Apollo Underneath the Whip (but it still isn't a bad track)
