9th June 2020

Review: “Broken Casket” by Wake The Blind

Hailing from Melbourne Australia and taking inspiration and lyric themes from suicide, drugs, murder and domestic violence, Wake The Blind want the world to see life as they see it and talk about subjects that make people feel uncomfortable. The quintet, who comprise bassist Adam Humphreys (who also handles the synths and programming) alongside drummer Adam Spackman, guitarists Brandon Tadday and Anthony Georgiou and vocalist Dylan Stone have also managed to get Lance Prenc (Polaris, Gravemind, Void Of Vision) on board to handle the mixing…

…If we had a $1 for every time we’d said something about the hotbed of musical talent that Australia is right now then we’d have enough cash to buy everyone at a major Festival a beer. Joining a line that includes Dealer, Alpha Wolf, Diamond Construct, Justice For The Damned and many, many more are Wake The Blind. Single “Patient” slaps hard, living in that territory that sits between Metallic Hardcore and Deathcore otherwise known as Gloom that seems to be the bastard child of a generation of bands influenced by the likes of Emmure, Attila and of course Loathe. The riffs are jagged and abrasive while Stone rap screams, screams and uses spoken word elements to bring a sense of nauseating sinister tension to everything they touch. After the violently aggressive start “Nix” introduces groove riffs for the rap screamed verses and the colossal drum sound that Prenc has given Spackman’s percussive work is incredible. The rhythms are tight and fast flowing and while this one doesn’t have the schizophrenia of the opening cut, it is just as impressive. “X2” was also a pre-release track which has a greater programming augmentation in the intro and outro than some of the other cuts. Most of the electronics are buried but show through just enough to bolster the sound, on this one adding an eerie touch to the vibe. The flow between the vocal styles is worked well and none of it feels forced or out of place.

There are a pair of tracks in “Cauterise” and “Now or Nothing” which were released in 2019 and don’t appear here. They could have, which would have turned this debut EP into a full length album in the eyes of the Streaming service community and it would be interesting to know why Wake The Blind chose to leave them off. Effectively the title track, “Casket” offers up some deeper melodic touches with a mournful meloncholy overtone in the opening half. The bruising tension throughout could be cut with a knife before breaking out for the final minute, a breakdown and rap scream delivering the release from that with a piece that calls for a wall of death to be set off live. There is no let up in quality here with “Teeth” saving a mighty fine tune until last. The Nu-Metal introspective lyrics are a throwback to the late 90’s but the anesthetic to that poison is the bounce and aggression in the music which is done perfectly. Icy keys close out the clearly cleverly constructed piece while a brutal gutteral growl is high quality moment. This is something you’re going to want to hear [8/10]

Track listing