Labels: Self-Released
Formats: Digital
Release Date: 19 Jan 2018
Tracklist:
1. V Nas Net Lvbvi
2. Cerbervs
3. Chvzhoe Nutro
4. Sozdatel'
5. Slepaya Vera
6. Death
When I started doing interviews again at the turn of the year, Russian blackened hardcore/post-metal band Wowod was one of the first bands I contacted and the first to be featured. You can read that interview here. It felt great to be able to feature a band like Wowod, whom were completely new to me. I promised myself for ages that I'd sit down and give their 2018 debut record "Nutro" a proper write-up and after a little bit of time, here I am. Wowod formed in 2017 and they've already notched up a lot of shows in Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine (including a show alongside Wiegedood in St. Petersburg).
Angular, heavy hardcore and sludge tempos are the order of the day on “Nutro” as opener V Nas Net Lvbvi sets a nasty tone. The vocals are spewed out in Russian with both deep growls and high-pitched screams, while the instrumentation underneath is both technical but also raging in the same way that bands like Gaza are (or were). Cerbervs is more aligned to hardcore early on but Wowod’s black metal textures shine through and provide both melody and layers of sound that are completely engaging in their entirety. All forms of extreme hardcore and metal can be emotive and eye-opening in their own way and this is no different.
Wowod leaves the murkiness of the previous song behind with a big climb in tempo on Chvzhoe Nutro. The bouncing punk rhythms laid down by the drums during the opening sixty-seconds are impossible to ignore, while their ability to temper that speed with a latter half that’s on the other end of the spectrum in terms of speed, seems effortless. Despite the seemingly expansive nature of Wowod’s music, “Nutro” passes by extremely quickly and Sozdatel’ guides you into it’s second half with another haunting black/post metal number. It’s the longest song on the record and while it has plenty of progression, it’s not overly experimental or head scratching. It stays very much true to Wowod’s sound and their approach to heavy music.
The intensity of the record is most aptly displayed in penultimate song Slepaya Vera. It distills everything that is great about Wowod and puts all of that emotion and catharsis into one song. Music doesn’t have to be fast 100% of the time to be intense. That descriptor means different things to different people, but to me it’s about how it makes me feel and how engaged I get with it. This album makes me feel so happy that I get the chance to do this, to listen too and write about bands like Wowod. Who would’ve thought that through music with such negativity at it’s base, it would invoke that kind of reaction. Talking of negativity as a catalyst, Death is a very apt closing song. It’s urgency is apparent and it’s the band’s last opportunity to rage and rage they do. Revisiting “Nutro” has been brilliant, it’s great. Wowod is great.
You can stream "Nutro" and purchase it digitally below:-
