A new album release from The Wring manages to deliver a soiree of progressive and heavy rock soundscapes with amazing time signatures and intense bass guitar tones all with a thriving and almost live performance approach.
The Nemesis is intense, and they certainly waste no time jumping right in with that intensity and showcasing their talent as a band with the very first track on the record, "Badlands" which starts with a crazy bass line and goes on to open up into amazing riffs and wild time signatures which again, is a staple of the band's sound.
This is a damn near perfect opening track because it doesn't introduce you to what you might expect more of from the record however, listening to only one or two tracks from this album will not do. They may give you a just or idea of what you could expect but, they will not give you the full spectrum of what the album has to offer as a whole.
Some of these tracks are mind-boggling in terms of those riffs and timings, but it's all got this live energy to it as I mentioned before. It feels almost like these guys recorded everything live on the floor so they can feed off each other the entire time.
This is the kind of intensity that the record delivers from beginning to end.
However, there are surprises around its corners.
Some of these songs thrash out with a classic metal style but with color as well.
They blend that color, personality, and edginess perfectly. You get songs like "The Sword" which have a heavier and thrashier sort of metal feel on the guitars along with anthemic and powerful vocals.
This track blew me away and made me think of bands like Faith No More, for example. You can hear tons of different heavy rock and metal influences strewn throughout the record and it's so much fun to soak all of that in.
Some songs take you on massive and almost cinematic musical journeys with huge vastness in their undertones and still pack a gigantic punch. Songs like "Dark Passenger" give you this and more.
The track starts with those classic keys and ends up taking you for a huge ride.
The chorus of this track is incredibly catchy and it's an intense song. A lot of the record is intense. Because it's a very driving album, it has this heaviness and energy that seemingly doesn't let up, so you have to be prepared to take all of this in.
I can tell you it's a lot of fun.
Listening to this record makes you want to go see them perform it live in your face. When you hear a band on a record, there are times when you know that band will be amazing to see live. This is one of those records.
The album is a huge, heavy rock, escape and there are a lot of outside-the-box approaches with augmented chords, inventive riffs, again, amazing time signatures which is really part of their big thing, but there are also those powerful and anthemic approaches that make you think of arena rock bands.
This is progressive rock with elements of metal, alternative rock, and more rolled into it.
These are songs you can tell it took a lot of attention to detail to create because the arrangements are amazing and creating those surprises that kind of blow you away takes time.
The drumming on this record is absolutely key of course. Not only does it add the push and drive to a lot of these tracks but it adds to that tightness, especially for a lot of that intricate timing and it's not robotic. It's alive and helps the band feel alive as well.
The vocals are amazing in terms of creating lush melodies and harmonies that add layers of texture to the songs and breed those more impactful segments. He belts out nice and loud giving the songs a boost and matching the energy of the band.
This is the kind of record that you listen to from beginning to end. If you do that, you will have to snap back to reality when it's all over.
When was the last time you had to do that?
The final track of the record is the title track, "Nemesis", and could be one of the more powerful tracks on the record as a whole. It's pretty explosive and also a great way to close the record if you ask me.
This is one of those albums where it feels like they paid a lot of attention to the track listing and order of the songs.
Definitely take a deep dive into this progressive and heavy-hitting record as soon as you can and do it loud or, even better, do it with headphones on so you can soak in everything.
Remember where you heard it first.
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