WRAITH – Fueled By Fear

vote
7.0

• Bands:
  WRAITH
• Duration: 00:45:47
• Available from: 06/28/2024
• Label:

• Prosthetic Records

Let's start this review by taking a step back. Wraith arrived on the scene at a propitious time to say the least and with the perfect approach to get noticed. While the propulsive thrust of many of their compatriots in some way similar (from Toxic Holocaust to Municipal Waste) was starting to wane, in fact, the progressive mutation of the retro-thrash/hardcore scene into a new hybrid that integrated black, punk and increasingly rotten elements has in fact seen them as decidedly protagonists, with the apex represented by the excellent “Undo The Chain”, from 2021.
Since then, if you look closely, not much has changed for the band; at most, you can note the entry into the lineup of bassist Mike Drysch (active about ten years ago in Scythe, a black/thrash combo from Chicago), who also demonstrates a great 'slap', absolutely in line with the attitude of his companions. And yet, and we say this after a good ten listens, “Fueled By Fear” is an album that, having to give a 'concrete' evaluation, unfortunately, left us a bit perplexed. Nothing is missing of what we could have expected: the riffs are full of drive and violence, the drum rolls, the overdrive, all the stylistic elements that can make you enjoy in this genre are present, and yet, at the same time, there is a creeping sensation of a task done excellently but without soul. Tracks like the title-track, “Heathen's Touch” or the motorheadiana “Ice Cold Bitch” – coincidentally concentrated in the first part of the album – still stand out with class, or simply introduce the right dynamic in a record that is successful, equally entertaining, but a little less surprising. And too many songs, no matter how adrenaline-filled, seem like they were cookie-cutter, no matter how well made.
Their cheeky mix of genres, the sardonic approach and the ability to make you shake your head are always there, but probably the previous “Undo The Chain” marked the pinnacle of an excellent path, on which the Indianapolis band tends now to live on an income. Let's hope it's just an adjustment step: it would be a shame to see them sunk into a generic, and now congested, cauldron.