Wasted Shells - The Debt
Inspired by Thrash metal, Swedish metallers Wasted Shells recently sent me through of their album, The Debt, to check out. Taking their lead from names such as Slayer, Pantera and Machine Head, the band have been on the road to world domination since their initial steps in 2006. Releasing their album in 2001, the band have already received critical acclaim from rock magazines in Sweden so are now embarking on getting their name out to the rest of the world. Seeing as they took the time to send me an album all the way from Sweden, and that their philosophy is just to make cool songs, I figured I’d jump on the band wagon to see what was going on!
We covered some of the tracks from this album before (see below) so for the purposes of this review I’ll cover what we didn’t hear before!
Never Enough follows the theme of first track The Debt, and opens with a dark and distorted riff before throwing you into a rolling pit of destruction, grabbing you by the eyeballs and forcing you to enjoy every single second of it. Hammering drums, fast paced riffs and roaring vocals bombard you from every direction as the track forms around you, keeping a firm sense of melody running through everything yet at the same time, forcing a world of distortion upon you. This is music which is crafted for the live scene and as it plays, you can imagine the band hammering these tracks out in front of you, the audience around you chanting along and going mental to every single second of it. Moving into A Dream Of Broken Bones (below), the album seems intent on destruction, not allowing you a moment to rest or sit back – once you hit play you’re involved in this album from start to finish.
Six Feet Under seems to present a moment of reflective calm on the album, opening with a soft guitar line which builds into the track taking its full, bassy form. There’s a real sense of emotional reflection running through this track, almost as if it’s based on memories from the past and things which they want to remember, it’s an incredibly thought provoking track. Soft vocals soar over the deep and moody backing music, forming a mix which is going to grab you and allow you to sit and think, this is a serious high point on the album and a moment which stands out as a demonstration of a band who can do what ever the hell they want to, and still make it work! Nine follows the theme roughly, once again opening soft and dark but soon returning to the dark and distorted world which we came to love so much from the earlier tracks (see below for the full review). As Exhausted is upon us though everything seems to take a turn for the dark, almost opening with a Fear Factory style synth line before launching into a full on, in your face hammering riff of doom! Now, I’ve heard a lot of bands since setting up this site, but not one has come close to the feeling that this track gave me. As soon as this track gets going you want to move, you want to be in a pit and you want to be seeing this live, it oozes power and just makes you want to be part of it, it’s an incredible track and the one which stands out as my personal favourite track from the album.
Hero In Everything is soon upon us, once again opening with a dark and moody guitar line underpinned by a heavy bass line, the sound almost echoing out of the speakers to create a sound which once again, engulfs you and simply allows you to enjoy. Soft vocals once again soar above everything, creating a sound which at first, comes as a bit of a shock after the all out heavy approach of some of the other tracks. That said, this is another accomplished track which stands out as a moment to check out, a moment which demonstrates how versatile this band really is. Imprint doesn’t faff around with grand openings, instead throwing straight into a pit of raw aggression and encouraging you to join them for the ride, once again a moment which is surely built for the live scene. Raw guitar lines mix with hammering drums, the bass kept high in the mix before the vocals come in to melt your face off, the whole mix forming something which you can’t help but move along to! By the time that The Darkness comes in to close the album there’s barely any energy left in me, yet the band still manage to pull one more out of the bag and craft one final moment of sheer genius. Building into a track through a faded guitar line combined with a soft acoustic line, the whole mix creates a sense of drama, making you wonder what’s coming but knowing that what ever it is, it’s going to be damned good. As an album closer I think it would have been hard to beat this, it sums everything up and leaves you gasping for more, wanting to hear more and knowing that this band is going to be a serious force to be reckoned with!
When Wasted Shells first got in touch about their stuff I kind of thought they were just going to be another generic thrash band, copying the styles of the greats and not really producing anything noteworthy, but boy have I been proven wrong. The sound these guys have crafted is quite frankly massive, distorted but most importantly, their own. This is a band who have worked hard to craft their own sound, craft tracks which make you want to see them live, but in all, make you love every second of the album. The one issue I have is that they’re in Sweden, so they either need to fly me out there to see them or they need to get over here to play – this is going to be one to keep an eye out for!
We covered some of the tracks from this album before (see below) so for the purposes of this review I’ll cover what we didn’t hear before!
Never Enough follows the theme of first track The Debt, and opens with a dark and distorted riff before throwing you into a rolling pit of destruction, grabbing you by the eyeballs and forcing you to enjoy every single second of it. Hammering drums, fast paced riffs and roaring vocals bombard you from every direction as the track forms around you, keeping a firm sense of melody running through everything yet at the same time, forcing a world of distortion upon you. This is music which is crafted for the live scene and as it plays, you can imagine the band hammering these tracks out in front of you, the audience around you chanting along and going mental to every single second of it. Moving into A Dream Of Broken Bones (below), the album seems intent on destruction, not allowing you a moment to rest or sit back – once you hit play you’re involved in this album from start to finish.
Six Feet Under seems to present a moment of reflective calm on the album, opening with a soft guitar line which builds into the track taking its full, bassy form. There’s a real sense of emotional reflection running through this track, almost as if it’s based on memories from the past and things which they want to remember, it’s an incredibly thought provoking track. Soft vocals soar over the deep and moody backing music, forming a mix which is going to grab you and allow you to sit and think, this is a serious high point on the album and a moment which stands out as a demonstration of a band who can do what ever the hell they want to, and still make it work! Nine follows the theme roughly, once again opening soft and dark but soon returning to the dark and distorted world which we came to love so much from the earlier tracks (see below for the full review). As Exhausted is upon us though everything seems to take a turn for the dark, almost opening with a Fear Factory style synth line before launching into a full on, in your face hammering riff of doom! Now, I’ve heard a lot of bands since setting up this site, but not one has come close to the feeling that this track gave me. As soon as this track gets going you want to move, you want to be in a pit and you want to be seeing this live, it oozes power and just makes you want to be part of it, it’s an incredible track and the one which stands out as my personal favourite track from the album.
Hero In Everything is soon upon us, once again opening with a dark and moody guitar line underpinned by a heavy bass line, the sound almost echoing out of the speakers to create a sound which once again, engulfs you and simply allows you to enjoy. Soft vocals once again soar above everything, creating a sound which at first, comes as a bit of a shock after the all out heavy approach of some of the other tracks. That said, this is another accomplished track which stands out as a moment to check out, a moment which demonstrates how versatile this band really is. Imprint doesn’t faff around with grand openings, instead throwing straight into a pit of raw aggression and encouraging you to join them for the ride, once again a moment which is surely built for the live scene. Raw guitar lines mix with hammering drums, the bass kept high in the mix before the vocals come in to melt your face off, the whole mix forming something which you can’t help but move along to! By the time that The Darkness comes in to close the album there’s barely any energy left in me, yet the band still manage to pull one more out of the bag and craft one final moment of sheer genius. Building into a track through a faded guitar line combined with a soft acoustic line, the whole mix creates a sense of drama, making you wonder what’s coming but knowing that what ever it is, it’s going to be damned good. As an album closer I think it would have been hard to beat this, it sums everything up and leaves you gasping for more, wanting to hear more and knowing that this band is going to be a serious force to be reckoned with!
When Wasted Shells first got in touch about their stuff I kind of thought they were just going to be another generic thrash band, copying the styles of the greats and not really producing anything noteworthy, but boy have I been proven wrong. The sound these guys have crafted is quite frankly massive, distorted but most importantly, their own. This is a band who have worked hard to craft their own sound, craft tracks which make you want to see them live, but in all, make you love every second of the album. The one issue I have is that they’re in Sweden, so they either need to fly me out there to see them or they need to get over here to play – this is going to be one to keep an eye out for!
Wasted Shells
Swedish band Wasted Shells recently got in touch to let us know about their Pantera/Slayer/Machine Head inspired blend of Thrash Metal and to see what we thought. Having gone through several line up changes since their initial formation in 2006, the band released their debut album ‘The Debt’ in 2011 and have since begun to make quite an impact over in Sweden. Stating themselves that their mission is to kick ass and write cool songs, this sounds like a band we need to get over this way!
The Debt opens proceedings and immediately suggests good things are to follows, opening with a hammering drum line before ushering in a distorted riff and pounding bass line, the mix forming something which is going to have heads nodding throughout the venues. Building into the track fully, you’re greeted by a solid riff, the sort which makes you want to pick up a guitar, before the fast paced drums are ushered in, at this point all nodding will have stopped and the pits are bound to be forming! The key to this track seems to be the pace at which it progresses, creating something which you instinctively want to move to, the vocals hammering out at you almost like a drill sergeant instructing you to follow their commands. The chorus is melodic and yet equals the power of the main breaks of the track, the solo intricate enough to have you hammering out some air guitar shapes, the whole mix forming something which you’re going to want to play very very loud!
A Dream Of Broken Bones follows on and launches into another hammering melee of guitar, bass and drums from the word go, I found myself reaching for the volume up button as soon as this one began! The mix is far funkier than the previous track, showing off some of their influences and making this a track which a lot of people are going to get on board with. Alternating the vocals from roaring to singing, the sense of melody is maintained through the track and what you’re left with is a song which you’re going to want to see live, I can only imagine the reaction on the live scene but based on the track I imagine the pits are insane! Couple that with a chorus which is going to have you singing along, enough double bass to shake your nans teeth out and breakdowns which are going to make you form pits in your own front room, and what you’ve got here is a track which stands out as one to look out for – it’s a hell of a track!
Nine closes the selection on the bands FB page and leaves no doubt in my mind that this is going to be a band which we need to get over onto these shores to play. Opening much softer than before through a clean yet dark guitar line before ushering in the bass heavy melodies once again, there’s a real sense that this is the anthem we’ve been waiting for, the track which the others have been building up to if you will. Slower yet almost heavier than the ones before it, this track is one hell of an accomplishment, and one which is going to have you simply sat back letting it flow over you before once again launching you headfirst into a pit of destruction. Moving from slow yet insanely heavy into fast and still equally as heavy, there’s so much going on within this track that at first you don’t know where to listen, it creates a sound which is refined yet raw, hard hitting yet accessible, and one which I know I’m going to come back to time and time again.
Wasted Shells are another demonstration of why we should be looking to Sweden for our music, they’re making a sound which is going to get crowds going mad even on the first time they hear it. The music is well written and incredibly well put together, creating a sound that demonstrates just how able a band this is and allowing you to hear everything they’ve got on offer. I don’t know that I agree with their genre of thrash metal as there’s far darker elements within the music, but what I do know is that this is an album which you need to get hold of, it’ll sit quite comfortably on your shelf and be one which you go to time and time again.
In summary – more please!
To find out more about Wasted Shells, check out their Facebook page HERE.
The Debt opens proceedings and immediately suggests good things are to follows, opening with a hammering drum line before ushering in a distorted riff and pounding bass line, the mix forming something which is going to have heads nodding throughout the venues. Building into the track fully, you’re greeted by a solid riff, the sort which makes you want to pick up a guitar, before the fast paced drums are ushered in, at this point all nodding will have stopped and the pits are bound to be forming! The key to this track seems to be the pace at which it progresses, creating something which you instinctively want to move to, the vocals hammering out at you almost like a drill sergeant instructing you to follow their commands. The chorus is melodic and yet equals the power of the main breaks of the track, the solo intricate enough to have you hammering out some air guitar shapes, the whole mix forming something which you’re going to want to play very very loud!
A Dream Of Broken Bones follows on and launches into another hammering melee of guitar, bass and drums from the word go, I found myself reaching for the volume up button as soon as this one began! The mix is far funkier than the previous track, showing off some of their influences and making this a track which a lot of people are going to get on board with. Alternating the vocals from roaring to singing, the sense of melody is maintained through the track and what you’re left with is a song which you’re going to want to see live, I can only imagine the reaction on the live scene but based on the track I imagine the pits are insane! Couple that with a chorus which is going to have you singing along, enough double bass to shake your nans teeth out and breakdowns which are going to make you form pits in your own front room, and what you’ve got here is a track which stands out as one to look out for – it’s a hell of a track!
Nine closes the selection on the bands FB page and leaves no doubt in my mind that this is going to be a band which we need to get over onto these shores to play. Opening much softer than before through a clean yet dark guitar line before ushering in the bass heavy melodies once again, there’s a real sense that this is the anthem we’ve been waiting for, the track which the others have been building up to if you will. Slower yet almost heavier than the ones before it, this track is one hell of an accomplishment, and one which is going to have you simply sat back letting it flow over you before once again launching you headfirst into a pit of destruction. Moving from slow yet insanely heavy into fast and still equally as heavy, there’s so much going on within this track that at first you don’t know where to listen, it creates a sound which is refined yet raw, hard hitting yet accessible, and one which I know I’m going to come back to time and time again.
Wasted Shells are another demonstration of why we should be looking to Sweden for our music, they’re making a sound which is going to get crowds going mad even on the first time they hear it. The music is well written and incredibly well put together, creating a sound that demonstrates just how able a band this is and allowing you to hear everything they’ve got on offer. I don’t know that I agree with their genre of thrash metal as there’s far darker elements within the music, but what I do know is that this is an album which you need to get hold of, it’ll sit quite comfortably on your shelf and be one which you go to time and time again.
In summary – more please!
To find out more about Wasted Shells, check out their Facebook page HERE.