Like a lot of metal subgenres, death metal has been ripped and cut into a million different pieces, pitting slam against blacked death metal, death grind against throwback-style bands. The awesome thing about Wayward Dawn is that they satisfy a thirst for all those who love the fast and the heavy.
Formed in Skanderborg, Denamark in October 2015, the debut studio album from the group, Soil Organic Matter, is a non-stop thrash fest, with plenty of stand out, ripping moments. It takes the sounds of many of the genre’s stalwarts and refines it, but never strays too far from the classic-yet-pulverizing sound the band is aiming for.
The title track is, not surprisingly, one of the stronger songs from the record, perfectly balancing thrashing riffs by Rasmus Johansen and Jakob Kristensen, greasy basslines of Kasper Szupienko Petersen and Niklas Lykke’s growls and screams with good songwriting. “Silece is for the Dead” speeds things up a bit and borrows a little from the thrashy roots of early death metal in the best way possible, and “In Darkness We Dwell” is a personal favorite and one of the stronger songs on the record in terms of groove and memorability.
If you’re looking for something that smashes the mold and reinvents death metal, this isnt’ the record for you. The band doesn’t really break a ton of new ground in terms of unimagined or untapped sound, and there is something predictable about the time signature changes and riff structures, just like a lot of death metal. But if you want something that sticks to the basics of the genre and does it really well, then this is not to be missed.
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