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Wastelander > Wardrive > Reviews
Wastelander - Wardrive

Having a Blast After the Apocalypse - 90%

Shadoeking, July 5th, 2010

Wastelander came out of nowhere to produce one of the biggest surprise albums from 2008. The band features a sound that calls to mind groups like Motorhead, Venom, Hellhammer, and Sodom. They play a combination of styles including crust punk and thrash metal, all played with a blackened style. Their sound is raw, intense, violent, and downright filthy.

Wastelander's music is fairly simple, but that is to be expected as the band is playing a primitive style of metal. The riffs are straightforward and not terribly complex, but they are presented in a high-octane energetic manner. There are guitar solos but they are often played very fast and over as quickly as they began. The vocals are sometimes delivered in an early black metal shriek, but are oftentimes shouted. These occasional vocals are the only real black metal influence on the album, although the riffs have an early Hellhammer/Venom feel to them at times.

The band's sound is heavily rooted in early punk and thrash metal. The guitar and bass riffs are heavily distorted, having a sound very similar to a much more punk-influenced Hellhammer. Even the vocals occasionally have the Tom Warrior grunting quality to them.

The album is short, being just over 36 minutes long and most of the songs are similarly brief. The band keeps their energy level up throughout, playing infectious and even somewhat bouncy songs throughout. The whole album feels like the band is having a great time playing. This sense of fun comes across to the listener very well making a very enjoyable listening experience.

The lyrics mostly deal with the apocalypse and post-apocalyptic situations. They are clearly influenced by movies such as Mad Max and other post-apocalyptic b-movies. Despite these bleak lyrical themes, the album is definitely not a downer.

Wastelander's debut album is an energetic travel through time. It is a combination of old school styles of punk and metal combined into something that feels fresh. It's an intriguing take on styles we have all heard before, but Wastelander pulls them off very well. This is a great first album for the band and they have a promising future.

Wears its nuclear boots quite well - 70%

autothrall, October 23rd, 2009

It would be almost impossible for someone of my tastes to not appreciate what this band is bringing to the table on their debut. This is a three piece featuring Xaphan (perhaps best known from Summon and Wind of the Black Mountains) on guitars, and Ian Pit Viper from Superchrist on the drums. The vocals and bass are provided by Matt War. What manifests here is a great play on traditional filthy punk and crust, all wrapped up in a blackened, thrash metal shell, and it's hella fun throughout the duration of its entire track list.

You could compare this to the classic three piece bands like Venom or even Motorhead, but what might be the closest would be a more punked out Celtic Frost. Does that sound sexy? Because it is on this album. A brief intro leads you the title track of the album, with some very simple, infectious riffing and a good plodding bass, moving at about D-Beat pace. The lyrics are very 'metal', and I dare say retro in the sense they would remind you of bands like Razor and Wehrmacht. But while this might turn me off from other modern bands, they are executed so lovingly and well that it's hard not to get caught up in them. The rest of the record is equally bad ass, I truly enjoyed "Days of Hell", "Mindsweeper", "Baptized in Ashes", and "Final Combat", but there is nothing really weak here, it all follows suit.

This is an exciting release for fans of old school thrash, heavier punk, and crust metal, and the proto-black metal icing on the cake makes it that much more delicious. Don't let the deceptively simplicity of this turn you off, it's very enjoyable to blast in your car or when you want to shove your nuclear boot up someone's ass. I personally can't wait for more! Kudos to you dos. Proof that Michigan can rock. Actually this album almost makes up for Kid Rock and Eminem.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Pretty Sweet. - 90%

caspian, November 27th, 2008

Wastelander remind me of the stuff that Darkthrone seems to be loving these days, albeit a bit thrashier. They’ve got a boner for motorhead and a lot of first wave black metal and punk that I don’t really know anything about. It seems to be a pretty hard formula to stuff up really; keep the songs short, sharp and heavy. Wastelander do a pretty good job of it, it’s not the greatest thing ever but it’s extremely enjoyable.

Well there’s not a huge amount of black metal; the influence is in the vocals but not really anything else. For the most part it’s simple, garage-y riffs that go along at a fairly lively pace and it’s been executed rather well. The title track is a good enough indication of what this is all about, some simple but massive riffs, a simply catchy chorus, a brief and rather cool solo. The riffs are pretty freakin’ awesome really, all rather simple (often relying on that “wall of chords” punk sort of thing) but unfailing entertaining; whether it’s the slower, crushing semi-dirge of “Knee Deep in the Dead” (no DooM riffs, unfortunately) or the huge, sorta Trouble-ish main riff of “Baptized in Ashes”, it all gets you banging your head and going nuts. It’s a catchy little beast, too. The singer isn’t terribly melodic, going for the old shouted vocals style of things with the occasional shriek, but nonetheless there’s some strong hooks on offer here and after the first few listens you’ll likely be singing along to every tune that comes along.

The production and overall vibe is delivered brilliantly; the production is perfect for what this album is. It all sounds raw and energetic, very much like one of those later Darkthrone records (sounds like the drummer is a huge Fenriz fan, too, very similar drumbeats), but the mixing and tones that’ve been captured are unfailingly excellent. Guitar are thick and really heavy, bass is loud in the mix and sounds great; drums are loose and swinging and the vocals have that perfect bit of reverb added onto them. Honestly it’s basically the perfect sound you could have for a record like this, and the performances are pretty enthusiastic. It’s just heavy metal that’s really simple, heavier then a very heavy thing and completely unpretentious. Certainly a good antidote to all of those over produced, completely unthreatening metal bands that stink up most of today’s metal scene.

Hell, they even nail a 6 and a half minute long mini epic in the form of “Frost Storm”, which starts off like any other Wastelander song before going all mellow and finishing on a huge note. Honestly I don’t have a great deal of bad stuff to say about this band; the riffs could perhaps be a bit more complex and varied but that’d be defeating the purpose of this record. A real heavy sort of record that is well worth your time.