Wrench in the Works - Decrease/Increase
Rating
RIYL
ConvergeDeadguy
Zao
Release Date
03/16/2010
Label
Facedown RecordsTracklist
01. Vultures02. Project AK-47
03. A Desert Voice
04. Pocket Watch
05. DeathSlayer
06. Gethsemane
07. Hearts and Masks
08. Vows (I Must Decrease)
09. Purge the Creep
10. Walk Amongst the Tombstones
11. Vows (He Must Increase)
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A quartet from Hartford, CT assaulted me today. They might take that as a good thing, but I don’t. Wrench in the Works, the hardcore group in question, has released a new album called Decrease/Increase on Facedown Records. This album has all the earmarks of your standard hardcore albums where the singer wants to sound harder than anyone and the instrumentalists try to play faster than any other band. On these counts, I guess that they have achieved what they’re going for. Vocalist Darrell Tauro sounds suitably concerned about something or other all album long, and everyone else is playing entirely too fast to make any musical impact. Folks, they may be accomplishing what they going for, but that doesn’t make for good music.
There are two main bones I have to pick with Wrench in the Works’ approach. First off is the thrash / metalcore trappings of their music. The second is that they claim to be a Christian band.
Hardcore metal is the equivalent of the NBA slam dunk contest. In the beginning it was truly exciting and being practiced by some of the more flamboyant and exciting players in the history of the league. And as each new contest came up, there was a lot of ingenuity and personality displayed in creating new dunks. Fast forward to the past few years and you have no-name players doing retread dunks with some intimidating-looking posing at the end. This is where Wrench in the Works comes in. Ok, Darrell Tauro, you can scream unintelligibly. What else have you got? Drummer Andy Nelson, you have proven that you can double-kick as fast and clean as anyone out there. What else have you got? Guitarist Justin Mehl and bassist Derek Anderson, you didn’t really distinguish yourself on this album in any way. What else have you got?
And this is what passes for “christian music” these days? I can understand that there may be some converts to Christ who have a taste for hardcore music. But seriously, how can music that doesn’t have comprehensible lyrics claim to be christian music? Especially when their music aims for (taken directly from their MySpace page) “a sound which is brutally aggressive….” Not to be preachy, but when did Jesus ever aim for brutality? Or even aggression? It seems to me that they are not being honest with themselves. They can name their songs “Gethsemane,” “Vows (I Must Decrease),” and “Vows (He Must Increase),” but this is just a justification to let them think they’re promoting Christ when they’re promoting themselves.
This album was a bore with the only letup from the noise being a superfast cymbal pattern from Nelson at the beginning of “A Desert Voice” and the album's closing instrumental “Vows (He Must Increase).” Otherwise, there was no ingenuity shown in the writing or arrangements -- just a dull bludgeoning for 30 minutes. In fact, I must thank them for their brevity in songwriting, that kept them from subjecting me to more abuse, at least. This album gets 1.5 stars because they were able to achieve what they were going for and because their drummer showed enough chops to let me know that he has potential. Other than that, I didn’t hear anything good on the album and I won’t listen to it again.
--David Toothman
Comments
New York
"And this is what passes for “christian music” these days? I can
understand that there may be some converts to Christ who have a taste
for hardcore music. But seriously, how can music that doesn’t have
comprehensible lyrics claim to be christian music? Especially when their
music aims for (taken directly from their MySpace page) “a sound which
is brutally aggressive….” Not to be preachy, but when did Jesus ever aim
for brutality? Or even aggression? It seems to me that they are not
being honest with themselves. They can name their songs “Gethsemane,”
“Vows (I Must Decrease),” and “Vows (He Must Increase),” but this is
just a justification to let them think they’re promoting Christ when
they’re promoting themselves"
There are plenty of Christian bands playing hardcore/metal. Just because a band's lyrics cannot be understood in audio form doesn't mean it detracts from their intentions. Plenty of Christian bands include lyrics in the booklet (and due to the fact that listeners cannot understand what they are saying, they are more apt to read the lyrics - brilliant, right?).
Nice review, nonetheless but this passage came across as being too narrow minded.
"If this is the state of my art,
Then I secede."
Minnesota
Yeah, I gotta agree with Josh. I think the christian criticism of the band is unwarranted. Yes, lots of bands use the "christian" moniker to promote themselves more than their faith, but who cares if the music is good (and non-preachy)?
As for this album... it's ok to listen to when on the treadmill or lifting weights, but that's about it. Bid, dumb, brootal metalcore. Nothing more... and can't really be much less.
Find me EVERYWHERE:
West Haven, CT
Just leave the CT music scene alone. It's terrible.
The Cityscape Burns Brighter By The Hour.
Infinitely Inwards
Terrible.
Ever Forthright - Ever Forthright
Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs
The New Law - The Fifty Year Storm
The Mars Volta - Noqtourniqet
Aborted - Global Flatline
Spawn of Possession - Incurso
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind)The Crafty Ape
Wisconsin
a lot better than their older stuff. it's more like a 2..2.5
their love show is boring though.
New York
I can't see a band playing music like this putting on a love show.
"If this is the state of my art,
Then I secede."
Minnesota
It's mostly angry face rape and fisting.
Find me EVERYWHERE:
West Haven, CT
These guys aren't that bad.
The Cityscape Burns Brighter By The Hour.