Review: “True Delusion” by Witness Chamber

Addressing issues that plague mankind through an existentialist viewpoint, from religious indoctrination to media consumption, Boise Idaho Hardcore crew Witness Chamber have returned two years after their well received 2021 EP “Paradise Awaits“. Recorded and produced by Ryan Morgan (Misery Signals) at The Tonic Room in Boise, mixed by Taylor Young at The Pit (God’s Hate, Mindforce) and mastered by Nick Townsend at Infrasonic Sound (Militarie Gun, Fleshwater), a dark, immense and innovative sound is how the band have described their brand of Metallic Hardcore. That shouldn’t really be much of a surprise given their inspirations, ranging from Foundation to Dying Fetus to Division Of Mind…

…what vocalist Chad Pingree, guitarist Hunter Wahl, drummer Jason Martinez and bassist Alex Marshall have is created with “True Delusion” is six bleak and intense tracks of blistering Metallic Hardcore, the sucker punch no one was expecting. Opening cut “Bear Witness” chugs with stuccato riff infestations, tempo shifting mercilessly to go lower an slower with an ugly kind of elegance. Pingree has the kind of gravelly unclean vocal you might expect from a Death Metal frontman and in this downtuned, raw abrasion, it’s all very primitive and raw. “Of the World” offers up the first guest vocal appearance with Maximus Hall of Ego Death bursting our ear drums with his shrill screams. A blunt force truma of brutality that sounds purposefully stripped down to incite mosh pit insanity, while in the live area the extra energy the band can harness will bolster the material, here it sounds like it’s been dampened down to in order to allow the crushing atmospherics to penetrate. Keeping the intensity levels high “Scars if Correction” has some old school Death Metal sensibilities, walking in the shadows of the current crop of Hardcore bands like Jesus Piece. A 122 minute stab in the dark it hits like a concrete slab dropped on the skull from a great height.

Jess Nyx of Mortality Rate and World of Pleasure fame then lends her throat to “By the fingers of God” a 55 second burst of violence designed to bring out the two steppers. Her vocals are so caustically shrill that they puncture the ear drums, wrapped in swirling guitars and groove laden kit work, it begs to be played three times over back to back live so no one misses out on getting to the mosh pit before it’s over. Flipping the script entirely, and eerie haunting melody brings in “Psalm” which then builds into a classic set closing instrumental that will allow Pingree a stage dive before the end. On first listen it sounds unfinished without a vocal but it grows with each repeated spin. “Acta Est Fabula” then brings in a few Hardcore Punk moments while having the kind of fierceness about it that you might expect from a fire breathing dragon. “True Delusion” feels like the precursor to an album that will put Witness Chamber on the map… [7/10]

Track Listing

1. Bear Witness
2. Of the World (ft. Maximus Hall of Ego Death)
3. Scars of Correction
4. By the fingers of God (ft.  Jess Nyx of Mortality Rate and World of Pleasure)
5. Psalm
6. Acta Est Fabula

“True Delusion” by Witness Chamber is out now via Daze