All the members of French band Warside are part of other bands, such as , except their vocalist it appears. Indeed they have also been members of other bands too such as Whisper-X and Hemerah with the former having some significance which I’ll allude to later on. This EP is the band’s debut under this moniker though there is also currently a Brazilian band with the same band name just so you don’t confuse them.
This EP was released in December 2020 both digitally and on a four panel digipak that was dedicated to one of their friends and previous band members Ferid who passed away in 2009. Having given both Skox and Whisper-X a brief listen there is some similarity to Warside here as this EP opens with ‘Fahrenheit 451’. Their modern death metal has a catchy vibe as the song briefly utilises a clichéd air raid siren that is swept aside for the battering blasted snare and crisp guitar sound. The double kick patterns offer a groove element that contemporary death metal often brandishes.
There is little relenting in the speed as ‘Heroes Shed No Tears’ continues, a track that was offered as a single prior to releasing the EP, as the track tears headlong and is occasionally frantic with blisteringly velocities but unleashing a cool lead break. Contrasting nicely is the sample led ‘History Of Violence’ that feed us the news about December 7th 1941 which we all know was the infamous day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour as the song detonates literally into life. However the song has sweeping tempo changes and is prevalent with riff changes that couple to the lead break that stabs the listener in face.
I particularly liked ‘Feeding The Crows’ partly because of its drum work as the drum fills add substantial momentum but also due to the increasing impetus and the middle phase where the vocals plunge into guttural tones where a cool catchy double kick piece unfolds leaving closer ‘Warside (II)’ to end the EP. Now you’ll be asking why this song is suffixed with (II) if this is a debut release. Good question! Well that is because, and I’m making assumptions here, there is a song called ‘Warside’ on the Whisper-X album ‘Warside’ released in 2007, though I may be wrong. This part II tune is a veritable blast fest, exploding into life the song and is probably the most aggressive track on the EP, possessing some excellent double kick which I’m always a sucker for, the song is a frenzied assault and ends this EP in formidable fashion.
(8/10 Martin Harris)
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