19th February 2022

Review: “The Pale Hollow” by Wraith

Purveyors of heavy music from Sydney, Australia Wraith dropped their debut EP in the summer of 2018, produced and engineered by Tom Cadden of Violent Sound Studios before following it up with a split with Mauvais 6 months later. Taking their band name from “a ghost or ghostlike image of someone, especially one seen shortly before or after their death. Used in reference to a pale, thin, or insubstantial person or thing” and having a Slipknot cover in their armoury, we were curious to see how much of the Nu would influence their ‘core…

Deathcore with clear influences from Metallic Hardcore and bands like The Acacia Strain is what Wraith have created with the first shot across the bows coming with “Abysmal” a 59 seconds of bomb blasting that sets everything off beautifully with a raw ugly and downright unhinged one verse vocal onslaught setting the tone before “Contention” comes out to play. While the opening cut went straight for the jugular, the second burnt offering circles like a pack of wolves before striking and being no less fearsome in doing so. The vocals are caustic to the point of burning flesh at 30 feet and touching the void into Slam stylings, thus giving the band a rounded feel of Nu-Metalcore, Deathcore and Slam as the rants and raves turn up the heat with violent and introspective thoughts spraying like a human Gatling gun. The thunderous percussive battery is a relentless artillery shelling that simply doesn’t allow for any pause for breath, commanding you to snap your neck if you’re not diving headlong into the pit. Only “A Choir Of Agony” offers up a moment of melody in a bizarre and perhaps slightly ill fitting bridge that fortunately doesn’t ruin one of the stronger cuts here as with the cutting CJ McCready like vocals it doesn’t work. The band play without fear and while the opening salvos are short sharp shocks of hair razing electricity, the second half is a trio of longer powerhouse cuts full of ideas as the red mist descends, each one more brutal than the next. “Vestige” has the ear worm riffs while “Euthanizer” has schizophrenically unhinged lyrics and a vocal that is pure cathartic vent with ear bleeding consequences. The only criticism is that too many of these tracks cut short when they could easily go on for another verse of chorus, with the finale crying out for a downtempo closing that simply doesn’t happen. [7/10]

Track listing