Can You Hear The Wind Howl (To Live A Lie) is the brand new EP from South Carolina grindcore act WVRM, and holy hell it rips. In just five tracks, WVRM is able to present a visceral beat down of metallic shredding hell, creating a gloom soaked atmosphere.
Starting things off with “Swollen Belly”, the track’s minimal drone of distortion leads into an explosion of drum clashes and savage vocals. The vocal work in particular gives off this guttural grotesque energy that is felt all throughout the EP. The song immediately flows into the following track, “Bag of Blades”. The guitar work brings forth a dark sinister aura in its eerie progression. The material ends with a slight shift in tone, cutting back on the bombardment of noise to allow for a choppy mechanical flow that drones briefly before the next song begins. “Distinguish” is a 10 second banger that erupts with a burst of hysteria in its instrumentation, the vocals shooting forth in rage.
The musical tone of WVRM’s work is that of pure dread and insanity, tapping into the pulsating grime and brutality that excellent grindcore has the power to unleash. Along with the savage instrumentation though comes this dark lyricism that is able to be just as chilling as it is poetic. Examples of this are in songs like “Suffer Ritual”, where the lyrics state, “One more night/ One more fight/ Grew up poor on a dirt floor killer/ Too fucking cold to cry anymore.” Blending with the music’s droning distortion and industrial shrieks, the lyrics provoke somber and painful auras.
The self-titled track packs in a brief catchy rhythm, giving the material a somewhat rock and roll vibe. The EP ends on its heaviest song “Mountain of Dead Pigs”. Along with the utter hell of blistering drum work and hellish guitar shredding, comes sinister lyricism and haunting vocal inflections. Opening on the lines, “I dream of dead cops,” the song is a prime example of the ruthless talent that is WVRM.
Can You Hear The Wind Howl is extraordinary dark and poetic grindcore. The material is so rich with extreme instrumentation, vocals, and lyrics, that upon listening through the entire EP, one will only want more. WVRM show off every bit of their talents throughout all the material, unleashing a purely devastating and violent collection of music. Can You Hear The Wind Howl is the sort of raw storytelling and instrumentation that makes grindcore an art that taps into the darkness of human kind’s emotions.
Score: 9/10
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPT7P-xDvKQ[/youtube]
