Worselder – Redshift
Worselder – Redshift
Ellie Promotion/ Season Of Mist
Release date: 17/02/2023
Running time: 45:00
Review by Alun Jones
8/10
January is over. Yet the cold still lingers, steel grey skies still shroud us. The iron glow on the horizon promises more snow. We stumble like children through the deep snow drifts of the French Pyrenees, our bodily extremities feeling icy cold. We are here in search of Worselder, Metal warriors who hail from these parts…
Here we have “Red Shift”, the latest endeavour from the mighty Worselder. It’s their first LP since “Paradigms Lost” in 2017, no thanks to the delay caused by the bloody pandemic. They’re back in full-on, skull crushing style here, though – picking up where they left off with the well-received success of the last album.
Part Power Metal, part Thrash, with a bit of old school Trad Metal, the Worselder’s music is aggressive and direct, no superfluous cheese. Opening tracks ‘Para Bellum’ and ‘Point of Divergence’ are furious Metal with chugging riffs and fast pace. It’s infectious, head banging stuff. There’s a ferocious Metalcore attack embedded in there too, particularly on ‘Pillars of Smoke’.
It nearly goes wrong on ‘Absurd Heroes’, where a truly ugly slap bass stinks things up in the intro. It’s only a minor setback though – ‘Atheist’ kicks the doors down with a killer riff and ‘The Exoteric Verses’ melds a haunting atmosphere with a Death Metal chant along. ‘Insurgents (Part 1)’ is a smart instrumental and good change of pace, leading to the frenzy of ‘Insurgents (Part 2)’. All wrapped up with the epic ‘Ascent to Rebirth’, it’s a solid effort.
The production is top notch, and the musicians are excellent, without being over indulgent or obvious with their playing. Worselder are a far more formidable band than I had initially expected, and “Red Shift” is a pleasant surprise.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Para Bellum
02. Point of Divergence
03. Pillars of Smoke
04. Absurd Heroes
05. Atheist
06. The Exoteric Verses
07. Insurgents (Part 1)
08. Insurgents (Part 2)
09. Ascent to Rebirth
LINE-UP:
Guillaume Granier – Vocals
Yoric Oliveras – Guitar
Jérémie Delattre – Guitar
Michel Marcq – Drums
Yannick Fernandez – Bass
LINKS:
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