Richard HolmesWayfarer – American Gothic (Century Media/Profound Lore)
This is the album Wayfarer always threatened to make.
A definitive statement.
It’s the realisation of their unique take on black metal – one caked in the dust of the old American frontier… and haunted by the spectres of long-forgotten prospectors and rapacious oilmen.
They’d been moving towards American Gothic since the folkish BM of 2016’s Old Souls. The charred Americana of World’s Blood and A Romance With Violence showed Wayfarer had a vision very different to that of the prevailing US black metal acts – and indeed, to the bluegrass-tinged work of Panopticon and Twilight Fauna, who conjure dreams of wood smoke drifting over Appalachian forests, rather than bleached bones and endless plains.
On American Gothic, the Denver act have crystallised that vision. And they’ve done that with a cohesive, utterly fascinating collection of dark takes, that tell of bloody revenge and broken dreams. They’ve also done it with the help of producer Arthur Rizk, who has brought both clarity and power to Wayfarer’s sound.
Opener The Thousands Tombs Of Western Promise could have been written by Quorthon, had he been born in Colorado rather than Stockholm. The slide guitar and intricate fretwork – acoustic and electric – are beautifully executed by Shane McCarthy and Joe Strong-Truscelli. The song’s structure is considerably more dynamic than that of Wayfarer’s earlier material. But that indefinable spirit, that primal essence which made Bathory’s music so compelling, is at the heart of the piece. And The Thousand Tombs… sets the tone for the remainder of American Gothic.
The Cattle Thief’s weaving riffery gives way to an eruption of blastbeats and blackened cascades, before drifting off into a hazy sunset, teeing up the dreamlike Reaper On The Oilfields. And then it’s back to Isaac Faulk’s steam engine percussion – and those exquisitely ornate riffs – for To Enter My House Justified.
American Gothic’s fiercer moments are tempered by the gentle tones and clean vocals of A High Plains Eulogy, and the second, canyon-deep interlude of 1934. Those tracks serve as the calm before the storm, as Black Plumes Over God’s Country strikes gold in a triumphant expression of Wayfarer’s music ambition.
False Constellation, an engrossing nightside hymn, closes the band’s fifth album with a flourish. Enjoyed what Satyricon were doing back in 2013, on their more expansive self-titled album? You might want to check this track out.
However, there’s no one quite like Wayfarer in today’s extreme metal scene.
Direct comparisons to BM’s other innovators won’t bear much fruit.
These four horsemen are dead set on their own path.
And thanks to American Gothic, more of us will be along for the ride.
Wayfarer photo by Frank Guerra.
