Conor Fynes
'New Start Human' - Wetwork (3/10)
Wetwork is a Canadian technical death metal band, and while they have all of the musicianship as the style might imply, I have never found myself much connected to the music they make. After a somewhat interesting debut with thrash metal in 'Temple Of Red', Wetwork change their style to what they are best known for in their second album, 'New Start Human'. Here, this quartet plays a somewhat odd brand of death metal, dabbling in some mild psychedelic influence all the while being fronted by a female growler. Although technical death metal has never been my thing, I do know what I like, and I'm afraid to say that 'New Start Human' does not meet the standard for me. While their sound has hints of promise, all too much of it is laid waste by shoddy production values, a lack of band tightness, and shallow songwriting.
Likely the thing that Wetwork is best known for is their still-rare status as a female fronted death metal band. Although this particular trend is spearheaded by Archenemy, there are a few bands that do this, although I have rarely felt that the use of a female growler is anything more than a gimmick to pull in listeners with sex appeal. Vocalist Kristen Parker does have a growl to her that's unlike the gutturals of a male, and it does well to give Wetwork a slightly more identifiable sound when they're doing their tech death material. As far as their death metal goes, there are some good, crunchy riffs here, and even slick bass licks. All of these musicians are quite good on their own, but recording together, everything feels just a bit out of sync. It is entirely understandable that an underground act would not have a load of resources to polish up their albums with, but not playing well together is something that cannot really be excused.
As far as the vocals go, they are arguably Wetwork's most defining trait, and also the worst. Parker's growls are alright, not suitable to my tastes in death metal, but I would not call them bad. Where things start to go wrong are these spoken word sections that the band does so often, where she simply speaks words in what sounds like the most contrived monotone imaginable. Sound fun to listen to? It's really not, and by the end of the half hour that this album goes on for, every gimmicks wears thin. In terms of highlights or anything, 'My Poltergeist' is a track that stands out for me, particularly the instrumental build-up ant the beginning. It demonstrates some dissonant work with the bass guitar that I really like, but as a whole, the song never goes anywhere within its six minute length.
I would say I am disappointed, but I have never found myself too impressed with anything Wetwork has done, unfortunately. Perhaps elements of this band's sound such as the female vocals are simply a matter of taste, but the lack of band precision is something that I cannot really excuse.