Just as the Norwegians conjured the spiteful cold and grandeur of their native land during the definitive second wave of black metal, so too have Colorado natives Wayfarer used the medium as a canvas upon which to emote their own roots in the American plains and prairies on World's Blood.
Opener "Animal Crown" is both the shortest track and most immediately striking, a grand declaration of Wayfarer's intent, coming on like a stampede of hooves on the warpath over the dried-out husks of the fallen. The dust settles as "On Horseback They Carried Thunder" begins with desolate strings borne out of American country, and as with both "The Crows Ahead Cry War" and "The Dreaming Plain," Wayfarer take time building intensity upon drawn-out, contemplative sections of melancholic beauty, until the cruelty of the land is bestirred into a tempest.
The mix imbues the rhythm section with thundering impact, lending an earthen weight that complements the sandstorm of guitar. All ends with "A Nation Of Immigrants," an eerie acoustic dirge that brings the dark Americana of World's Blood to the fore.
World's Blood seems as much a work of love as fear, a reverent ode to a land that has housed and inspired Wayfarer. In the manner of other groups like Panopticon or Nechochwen, Wayfarer have crafted a black metal sound that is distinct to the West. It is this connection with one's surroundings, its history and nature, that gives World's Blood undeniable power.
(Profound Lore)Opener "Animal Crown" is both the shortest track and most immediately striking, a grand declaration of Wayfarer's intent, coming on like a stampede of hooves on the warpath over the dried-out husks of the fallen. The dust settles as "On Horseback They Carried Thunder" begins with desolate strings borne out of American country, and as with both "The Crows Ahead Cry War" and "The Dreaming Plain," Wayfarer take time building intensity upon drawn-out, contemplative sections of melancholic beauty, until the cruelty of the land is bestirred into a tempest.
The mix imbues the rhythm section with thundering impact, lending an earthen weight that complements the sandstorm of guitar. All ends with "A Nation Of Immigrants," an eerie acoustic dirge that brings the dark Americana of World's Blood to the fore.
World's Blood seems as much a work of love as fear, a reverent ode to a land that has housed and inspired Wayfarer. In the manner of other groups like Panopticon or Nechochwen, Wayfarer have crafted a black metal sound that is distinct to the West. It is this connection with one's surroundings, its history and nature, that gives World's Blood undeniable power.