As the name suggests, Wristmeetrazor do not go for the subtle. But in throwing everything at the audience—provocative stereotypes of emo culture, leathery goth club attire, and crushingly heavy slabs of metalcore throwbacks—they’re an outfit that seems impossible to ignore. In fact, the industrialisation of their sound steeps them into a realm of their own, albeit an aspect they lean into with trepidation on Degeneration, a slight reclaiming of ‘90s metallics that mostly lurk in the shadows these days.
Last album Replica Of A Strange Love (also in being produced by Knocked Loose’s Isaac Hale) proved Wristmeetrazor made up a large part of this rekindled movement, and there’s been changes afoot. With Justin Fornof switching from bass to full vocals, and bolstering the lineup with Userelaine and Nate Billmyer, the fuller sound is captured meatily by Randy Leboeuf (in the New Jersey wilderness no less) to juggle relics of the past while pining for the genre’s resurrection. In doing that, both records slip for the same reason: there’s a lot of the same thing.
For fans of the mid-to-late noughties’ sound at least, it’s quite the feast. Chugs, octave chords and vocal shifts from the phlegmy to the half-screamed all pop up immediately on Turn On, Tune In, Drop Dead. Both Static Reckoning and Xerox Reflection display the ‘5,7,8 riff style’ of legendary Killswitch and As I Lay Dying heydays. Single Trepanation whizzes between tempo changes and a passage comprising punchy bass licks and ambient leads. The whirls of tremolos and circle pit worthy verses come thick and fast, with special mention to drummer Bryan Prosser whose small flourishes prick the ears. All instruments sit loudly and proudly in the mix, with the bass drum pounding away prominently—no bad idea for this reviewer, whose love for the OTT kick pedal on such records as For Today’s Ekklesia brings its own nostalgic wink—and it’s a real gutsy pounding across the board.
While the album cover’s crucifixion scene on electricity pylons seems provocative on its own, it also encapsulates Fornof’s lyrical connections of an image bastardised; a faux representation. The singer makes his stance on the fame-hungry well known (The Vanity Procession), as well as what he makes of peoples’ false presentations of themselves on Synthetic-51n (“Blank drone eyes just stay blind. This face isn’t yours. You’re synthetic.”). For all the finger-pointing venom which, track-dependent, flips between his own demons or in the face of those he disagrees with, there’s also the dichotomy of beauty and violence that so well suits the sound. Static Reckoning’s “We’re so far beyond the need for safety / In the dying days of my embrace” is one such instance, as well as the hyper-romantically titled Greatest Love Offering in the History of the World which is more macabre in its “I’ll kill for you” sentiment. It’s more experimental in its slowed melodic section, followed by a sudden drop out, then a ‘hidden’ goth-pop track that brings to mind music videos of swaying black chandeliers.
This, alongside some underlying programmed drums, are more outside-the-box elements that could have been capitalised on more for some variation. DogdayGod’s unpredictable verse paths into either grind or beatdown hardcore are class, but used in moderation, and the continuous chunky rage does tire eventually. Then again, it’s not that the glorious early days of metalcore offered much more than their successful neck-swinging chugfests. In retreading that ground with a modern sheen, Wristmeetrazor provide a worthy addition to the growing canon, and if the scene does get back to its former best, they’ll hopefully be the first to naturally morph into one of its more outlandish scene stealers.
For fans of: Code Orange, Dying Wish, Jesus Piece
‘Degeneration’ by Wristmeetrazor is released on 29th March on Prosthetic Records.
Words by Elliot Burr
