Insight & Critique
  • DAC
  • Indie Music Album Reviews
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Top albums
  • Features
  • Contact

Wahrus - Wahrus

7/14/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Wahrus

Wahrus
self-released; 2015

3.9 out of 5

By Mike Przygoda

The self-titled EP from Wahrus is an excellent blend of art-rock, dance grooves, and prog. Each member of the band gives a powerful performance, and the songwriting is very clever and well thought-out.

"On And On" opens the album with a telegraph pulse of electric guitars before a funky Talking Heads groove is established.  The song then evolves to heavier guitar harmonies and when the vocal enters again there’s a new melody and a Franz Ferdinand-esque repetitive vocal. The bridge is a dream-pop excursion, and the guitar solo reaches into prog-rock territory. All of these genres are seamlessly blended together, letting the song evolve naturally but contain many different influences within. It’s a clever technique and harder to pull off than the band lets on keeping the energy and development interesting throughout.

The rest of the EP keeps that same energy and interest. "Seaside City" begins with an Eric Johnson-like virtuosic guitar excursion over a triplet groove before the vocals enter. The song has some great guitar harmonies throughout and a strong vocal. It breaks down and builds up extremely effectively giving a great sense of dynamic progression.  Knowledge combines a ska-like pattern with some processed art-pop vocals. The guitar solo leads the band through a great build and when the vocal returns, the band is playing the initial groove with slightly more intensity, a subtle move that works well.  It finally concludes with a few modulations before landing.

"Brazen Beat" and "End Of The Line" have System Of A Down-ish vocal elements over stoner rock pounding. In "Brazen Beat", the elongated notes of the vocal play nicely against rhythmic presence of the band giving a smart dichotomy between the sections and making the fusion work nicely.  As per usual, the guitar solo is stunning both in tone and content, and there’s some nice counterpoint between the ascending and descending guitar lines in the chorus. "End Of The Line" interpolates monstrously heavy drums and power chords and shredding guitar.  The song moves into a neo-Classical instrumental section before the final chorus. "Controller" features some nimble guitar runs over a dance-y sixteenth note hi-hat pattern. The lyrics are clever and delivered with force.  The song ends by changing from the disco-ish rock to an 80s heavy metal movie montage and is an effective coda.

Overall, the band is extremely talented.  The songs combine many influences but mix them together in a way that makes the sum of the parts stronger than each individual one. Wahrus is edgy, danceable, smart, and fun.
Become A Fan
soundcloud
Tweet
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

       Critique/insight

    We are dedicated to informing the public about the different types of independent  music that is available for your listening pleasure as well as giving the artist a professional critique from a seasoned music geek. We critique a wide variety of niche genres like experimental, IDM, electronic, ambient, shoegaze and much more.

    Tweets by divideanconqer
    Are you one of our faithful visitors who enjoys our website? Like us on Facebook


    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

Company

About
Contributors

Newsletter

Newsletter
Book Your Band
© Divide and Conquer 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • DAC
  • Indie Music Album Reviews
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Top albums
  • Features
  • Contact