Review: “Black Planet/Take Your Shot, Funboy” by WristMeetRazor!

Recorded by Andy Nelson at Bricktop Recording and Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, WristMeetRazor have released a pair of singles especially for Halloween, or Devil’s Night if you prefer. The first new material since the bands major label debut album in January entitled “Misery Never Forgets” via Prosthetic Records, the quartet of guitarist vocalist Jonah Thorne, bassist Justin Fornof, drummer Byran Prosser and guitarist Tyler Norris have a growing reputation.

Seeing as it was Halloween and a double A side (or maybe 7″ vinyl) is the order of the day, a cover isn’t a big surprise. WristMeetRazor have cited Screamo bands like Kodan Armada while making the distinctly Nu-Metal statement of existing “as a monument to the space between sanity and self destruction“. So… Sisters Of Mercy?! “Black Planet” is the opening track of their 1985 Gothic Rock album “First and Last and Always” and as you might expect, WristMeetRazor take some Avenged Sevenfold guitar work and a synth loop and build their version of the song around it. The best 80s pop voices are put on for clean vocals that leave you thinking you’ve been listening to a Marilyn Manson track while showcasing an entirely different side of the bands influences and abilities. It’s an interesting take and if they’re contemplating a style shift then this could well be a precursor litmus paper test for their fan base. The absence of any unclean vocals at all is a surprise. “Take Your Shot, Funboy” references a character from The Crow film, a morphine drug dealer, one of Shelly’s rapists and one of Eric Draven’s murderers. A return to the WristMeetRazor core sound of brutal *ahem* razor sharp unclean vocals in the foreground are backed off by some cleans to good effect while Metalcore riffs pile breakdowns up for days. Fans of “Misery Never Forgets” will be more than happy with the later, it bodes well for their next album. All in all a fine, if polar opposite pair of fresh *ahem* cuts from the razor [7.5/10]

Track listing

1. Black Planet (Sisters Of Mercy Cover)
2. Take Your Shot, Funboy

“Black Planet/Take Your Shot, Funboy” is out now and available via bandcamp