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Review: Wiegedood - There's Always Blood at the End of the Road
Wiegedood
www.facebook.com/wiegedood
There's Always Blood at the End of the Road

Label: Century Media Records
Year released: 2022
Duration: 44:25
Tracks: 9
Genre: Black Metal

Rating:
4.25/5


Review online: June 14, 2022
Reviewed by: Micah.Ram
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Review

Maintaining the same lineup that they begin with all the way back in 2014, Belgium’s Wiegedood released their fourth full-length album in January this year, entitled There’s Always Blood at the End of the Road. While I had seen the band’s name pop up a few times, I had never actually listened to them until this record came out. Longtime fans of the band will feel familiar with the material on this album, but as for me, this was a cool discovery.

The music here is often quite minimalist with the riffs, as many songs are built off of only one or two riffs, with exceptions throughout the record on occasion. Most times it works very well, although admittedly I got quite tired of the riff and throat singing combo in the fifth track, "Now Will Always Be." While the song was very repetitive, there was at least a nice payoff when the riff changed somewhat to reflect a sense of resolution to the conflict brought by the first riff. Many tracks here, such as the opener "FN SCAR 16," are fast rippers with repeated riffs that resolve in different ways with respect to rhythm and other parameters, keeping the songs fresh throughout. I thought of the band Ulthar when considering the frantic energy and rhythmic shifts shown here. Occasionally, the band stripped down to chugging riffs or palm-muted fast-picking injected with a great deal of atmosphere for some genuinely uncomfortable moments, such as the second half of the second track, "And in Old Salamano’s Room, The Dog Whimpered Softly." The second half of the track really brings an ominous vibe, complete with a sickly feeling.

"Nuages" is one of the most unique sounding tracks on the record, starting with very noisy tremolo-picked chaotic chords with atonal sliding guitar lines chaotically gliding up and down in the background. Want to see and hear something uncomfortable? Go watch the music video for this track. The acting by the insane man in the video combined with the twisted and darkly syncopated chug with scratching guitar lines is downright creepy, in a really cool and effective way. This track manages to capture a dark atmosphere most bands fail to create.

With a very sharp-edged sound due to high distortion and very intense and unclear vocal approach, I can’t help but relate the band’s sound to Converge, but only if Converge went in an extreme Black Metal direction with their sound. Considering that all three of the band members in Wiegedood are also members of Oathbreaker, a Post-Black Metal/Post-Hardcore band, their unique sound approach does not really surprise me, as the sharp distortion would likely be more common in a band like Oathbreaker than most typical Black Metal bands. And it works very well here. Also worth mentioning, two members of Wiegedood are also in Living Gate, a Death Metal band who put out an awesome EP in 2020 called Deathlust which at times reminds of early Suffocation. That one is also well worth checking out, as a side note. If you like your Black Metal chaotic, minimalist, intense, and genuinely dark and twisted, you can do no wrong in listening to There’s Always Blood at the End of the Road!

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