Wrnlrd

Following the strange intriguing experience of Oneirmantical War, I felt that I had to check out Myrmidon from WRNLRD once it arrived; but instead of diving right into Myrmidon, I avoided it like the album was some dark door that I just did not want to open. Myrmidon sat for months on my desk as it sat, always visible out of the corner of my eye simultaneously taunting, threatening, and begging me to listen to it. When I finally put this record on, not only did it not disappoint, but all of my fears regarding my playing it turned out to be completely warranted.

Myrmidon is a wholly disconcerting listening experience with sounds coming from all over the place, and while I still am not completely into the production of WRNLRD, the filling of every nook and cranny of audible space goes a long way in drawing my interest. WRNLRD takes the instrumentation up to another level adding what sounds like horns (check “Girl”, “Genital”, and “Moaner / Revelator” for example), (while not technically an instrument) more choral aspects and operatic vocals (listen to “Black Dress”). The creepy factor rises to new levels on Myrmidon and that is a great development, but at the same time, WRNLRD does not quite get me with this record like Oneirmantical War; the moods are certainly there, though, allowing Myrmidon with a similar ability to affect listeners. The horn arrangements are still blowing my mind, and the rhythmic riffing and horns in “Moaner / Revelator” are surely impressive to even the most jaded listener, and the low end rumble near the end of “White Doll” is great.

You have to respect such a forward thinking artist as WRNLRD for making records like Myrmidon that completely push the boundaries of a musical genre or music in general. Seriously, this album could very well be the most overt mixing of black metal with jazz (the saxophone solo in “Genital” is mind blowing when you first hear it) that I have come across thus far in my musical meanderings. If you want to hear a real genre bending album, Myrmidon from WRNLRD should be one that you check out, it is a real mind bender of a record that might draw you in to WRNLRD like his other releases have done to me.

7.0 / 10 — Bob