Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

The Wretched End > Inroads > 2012, Digital, Candlelight Records (Bandcamp) > Reviews
The Wretched End - Inroads

Inroads - 70%

Andromeda_Unchained, July 23rd, 2012

Here we have album number two from Norwegian Death Thrashers The Wretched End featuring the mighty Samoth who I’m sure you might well know from Emperor or Zyklon. Their overall sound is not surprisingly of a blend of Zyklon, and later Emperor, as well as some elements of acts such as Strapping Young Lad, Blood Red Throne, and Aborym.

The band has a very crisp and modern sound here on their sophomore effort Inroads with Samoth’s riffing style bleeding through all over the place. He tags his guitar lines with Black Metal-style chord shifts or tremolo’s which certainly give the riffs on here a good bit of bite. Their riffs straddle the line between the aforementioned articulated style to more standard chugging grooves. There’s also a definite Strapping Young Lad vibe going on here too which is cool. The drums utilize a lot of the extreme Metal conventions with aplomb, boasting some good cymbal and china use as well as some cheeky double-kicked triplet flurries. The bass largely focuses on adding low end to the already down-tuned sounding guitar tone, as well as following along with the kick drum which is cool and tends to blend in with the general sound for better or for worse.

Inroads is quite an enjoyable slab of modern extreme Metal, and I could definitely see The Wretched End achieving recognition outside of the underground circles as their sound and style is built for those who measure how heavy a band are in terms of down-tuned guitars and crystal clear production. However the band keeps enough Black and Death Metal nuances in their sound to maintain appeal to even the most ardent elitist. In places Inroads isn’t too far away from some of the modern Pestilence material, and there’s also a slight hint of later Emperor which is probably down to Samoth’s style.

Overall The Wretched End have put forth a solid sophomore effort, and fans of the more modern strands of Death/Thrash/Black Metal will no doubt find a good deal of enjoyment across the album's 38 minutes. Standout tracks would include “Throne Renowned of Old” with its Emperor style moments, the crushing “Tyrant of the Mountain” and the downright bad-ass “The Haunting Ground”. Worth a listen!

Originally writen for http://www.metal-observer.com