Wartorn

If you had asked me two years ago if I’d rather hear another Wartorn song or be kicked in the crotch by a Clydesdale that’s wearing a pair ice climbing cleats, I probably would have picked the option that left me crying in the fetal position with bloody underpants and no chance of ever having children. But with arrival of their new 7”—the March edition of the Profane Existence Single Series—it turns out that aside from the painfully (literally) obvious reason, it would have also been a really poor decision because I would never have heard these two tracks.

“Domestic Terrorist” starts off with crunchy guitar, thundering bass, and loose, exploratory drumming that successfully builds anticipation for the impending full-fledged rage that follows. While sticking largely to the epic crust formula they’ve spent years perfecting, there is also a sense of rawness that becomes noticeable once the vocals hit. There is a certain air of distortion that’s not completely blown-out but bordering just near it.

The band rapidly injects various tones of other extreme music into their existing mold on the flipside. “Under Oath” runs a good 1:20 before any vocals come in – an instrumental period that includes the first of a few brief, fire-hot guitar solos that are reminiscent of golden-era thrash metal. Near the end of the song there are some hardcore change-ups and death metal-like backup vocals that happen so fast that I think I missed them the first handful of times I listened to it. 

I absolutely love the way these songs were recorded – especially the vocals. The overall sound has a real unclean feel to it – like you can hear a thin layer of dirt bouncing of the amps. There’s really no other way to listen to this than, well, the best way: super loud.

7.0 / 10 — Nathan G. O'Brien