Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Wetwork - Synod - 2005 - Krankenhaus Records

Track Listing1. Prea Letum 2. Heavens Advocate 3. Shelter Of Hipocrisy 4. Depths Of Greed 5. Crawlspace 6. Nature Of Repention 7. Venison 8. Pontious Pilate 9. The Servants Of Twilight

Canada's Wetwork come to us with their third release to date, a technical mind warp called "Synod". For some reason I managed to miss the group's first two releases, "New Start Human" and "Temple Of Red". The band have joined forces with Krankenhaus Records for this third effort, a worthwhile little piece that demonstrates a hard, drilling affair that is very relentless in it's pursuit of everything stripped down and brutal. With "Synod" Wetwork will find themselves in the middle of a huge metal crowd, one that is mired with groups like Nightrage, The Haunted, and Construcdead. While Wetwork doesn't quite have the melodic death touch of those types of bands, their core audience will come from those same stomping grounds.

This Canadian act is fronted by Kristen Parker, an angry young woman who is hell-bent on delivering the most sadistic, Earth shattering growls known to man. At times she brings this band onto the same avenues as Sinister, Holy Moses, and Arch Enemy, with a unique spoken word passage here and there to make "Synod" a much more diversified construction. While the band makes some material sound rather groove-oriented, a majority of this record is built from technical death metal and thrash. The group concentrates on razzle-dazzle guitars, really creating whirlwinds with their timing changes and bombastic groove mixes. Along with the ever changing song structures comes the creepy atmospheric effects, almost going into gothic metal dimensions in some cases.

With songs like "Prea Letum" and "Depths Of Greed", Wetwork combine intricate arrangements with a frenzied pace to create total chaos. At times Floridian tech bands like Death and Obituary come to mind, with this band easily drawing from those blueprints to create this record. "Heavens Advocate" plays as the perfect mind ripper, running at a fast paced fury with plenty of choppy riffs that move at a machine like intensity. "Shelter Of Hipocrisy" is sort of a more streamlined effort, recalling other female fronted thrash machines like Arch Enemy, Holy Moses, and to a degree Sinister. Cuts like "Nature Of Repention" and "Venison" are of a more experimental make and model, each adding in tribal, trance like elements with the soft spoken verses of Parker.

Bottom Line - While Wetwork may confuse the average listener, the fans of more technical groups will cherish this rich, deeply textured metal piece.


--EC 08.31.05