It’s that exciting time of the year, a new Wednesday 13 album! The man/band I’ve been following for the past 17 years of my life and who I continue replaying in my adulthood, and they are now back and let’s get into it!
So, this one is 12 songs and 43 minutes in length, and right off the bat, you can tell with that haunting intro that this one will be ‘heavier’ than the others, bringing back the 2019 ‘Skeletons’ feel and inspiration with the leaning towards ‘Heavy Metal’ as a base more than the ‘Punk’ side of things, and of course, across the board, you have fans who share opinions on which era of Wednesday they prefer, but regardless, it’s his quality and consistent creativity in the ‘Horror Punk’ subgenre that we all gravitate towards and look forward to, and this release is no different!
Interestingly, this album features lead singer of Glam Metal band ‘Faster Pussycat’ on track 5, which offers an interesting switch of pace for the band’s signature sound!
Aside from there, this project is a lot more methodical and surreal in its pacing. You can feel every guitar string, every thud of the drums, and when they kick off into a pattern, your whole body feels the rhythm and plays along!
There’s a track on here ‘Rotting Away’ which gives me a twist spin on ‘Bad Things’, with the lyrical matter feeling very similar, and just like the former track, has an anthem-like quality to it, which is badass!
Wednesday himself hasn’t lost a single touch since his 2022 album ‘Horrifier’. In the span of three years, he sounds as solid as he ever has. He could very well be a vampire who doesn’t age, which would honestly explain a lot about his longevity and career so far. He doesn’t look different from his days in ‘Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13’ days, and he just seems to be getting better with age!
If I had to choose a favourite track, it would have to be ‘Decapitation’ for the sole reason that I’m an open-minded fan of his more punk-heavy releases, and this one fits the bill completely! Not to say the album is bad at all, but this one gets my gears going, and it has another strong anthem filled with a chorus I’m sure I’ll get weird looks for accidentally being caught lip-syncing the words under my breath.
Final verdict: this album is as expected BADASS. It delivers on all fronts with a mix of sounds for every type of Wednesday Era fan, and it’s another fun adventure from start to finish!
https://open.spotify.com/album/4EEDPJLZsPukCYhPT3Hpyu?si=UecpLTQ6QfuYgHIL8urdXw
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