Wednesday, February 11, 2015

CD review: THE NAMELESS WRETCH What Are Heroes? by Dave Wolff

THE NAMELESS WRETCH
What Are Heroes?
Rusty Hack Saw
The Nameless Wretch is the musical project of Charlie Joseph Jack Kruger, author and reviewer for Horrorpunks.com. Influenced by the more experimental punk bands and similar artists of yesteryear (Bowie, Swans, Samhain, Fugazi etc.), What Are Heroes? is a nightmare cold emptiness that lasts for all eternity, Think of Celtic Frost on Monotheist and Katatonia on Last Fair Deal Gone Down and you’ll have an inkling of where their expertise lies and who this album should appeal to. Dark, grey, distant and depressive, this recording is not for the faint of heart or the easily bummed. But those of us with the fortitude to appreciate an artist’s vision of utter despair and hopelessness (with the awareness that it’s just a record) will find it highly entertaining giving it multiple listens. This is one of those sonic excursions where you can actually see the darkness opening up before you; nothing but rainclouds, empty terrain and leafless, lifeless tress like gravestones. All with the sensation that the memories of the people who lived and thrived here long ago are not completely faded, and are inviting you to spend some time with them… perhaps forever. The overlapping string instruments, percussion instruments and atmospheric effects play well off one another, contributing equally to the wasteland that is created from the darkened minds collaborating on this work. This full length and Of Beauty And Madness’ Litany are two of the year’s finest underground releases in this regard. I eagerly anticipate what’s to come next from this project. -Dave Wolff