Wombatt
Basement Metal
4.2
There comes a time in one’s life when one must ask him/herself: What would you expect from a band called Wombatt? I myself would have to answer “the unexpected,” and that’s what I was in for. Wombatt is a duo, with the two members being Billy Pretty and Czar (aka S. Craig Zahler of Metal Maniacs). Czar handles the drums and lead guitar, while Billy handles rhythm and also some lead guitar, the bass and vokill duties. My first impression with Basement Metal was that if nothing else the music had promise, but then the vokills started and it slowly went downhill from there. I’ve tried and I’ve tried but I can’t quite get into the vokills (or the rest of the album for that matter) on this disc. Basement Metal is filled with riffs jumping around from black metal to 70’s metal (think Blue Öyster Cult and you might be on the right track, one could even argue some Rush influence also). If nothing else the band gets points for creativity, but the odd riffs never really feel like they lead the listener anywhere. There are a few standout moments of creativity like the odd electronic sounding riff in the middle of “Midnight Ambush Upon Accursed Soil”, or some of the expansive guitar work found throughout the album. Despite this, the album failed to grab my full attention. On occasion the guitar playing also sounds rather sloppy. I’m not sure if this may be because of the poor production or simply because of lack of skill. The bass is played decently adding some cool rhythms behind the guitar. The drums are executed well, but they’re nothing to get too excited about. As I mentioned, my main complaint was with the vokills. They’re kind of hard to describe, they hold more of a rock or progressive type sound to them, but they aren’t enjoyable in the least. On occasion, Billy’s vokills feel somewhat forced and it seems as if he’s trying to hit a key he’s not quite able to obtain. Some good examples of this could be found in the song “Glass Skeleton.” I see no reason at all in recommending this to anyone unless you’re really desperate for a band that’s attempting at trying to create somewhat of a new metal (not to be misinterpreted as nu-metal) sound. Not even the production could really save this one, because some parts of it sound like they actually were recorded in a basement. The kick drums have a really flat sound with no impact whatsoever. The guitar sound is similar to something you might find exceptional in the early 80’s (maybe even 70’s) and the vokills filter in and out. Although there are some rather enjoyable sections musically, the bad ultimately outweighs the good.
