Rising from the ashes of Gates Of Slumber, founder Karl Simon thankfully decided to forge ahead under a new banner after the death of close friend and GOS bandmate Jason McCash.
Employing the same uncomplicatedly heavy-hitting power trio dynamic, Wretch continue with Karl’s former band’s traditional doom and heavy metal grooving dirge. Fans of GOS will be surely satisfied to hear the trademark Karl Simon cast-iron riffs still in full force.
Wretch deals with the horrors of loss and drug abuse surrounding McCash’s death and its composition contains moments of a gritty and often sombre aura similar to Wino’s darkest tales in Saint Vitus. Long gone are the themes of Robert Howard-inspired sword and sorcery, but the 70s-tinged heavy metal thunder is still very much evident through a more mature and forlorn despair. In time-honoured doom metal tradition, Wretch’s debut hearkens back to the genre’s early themes of tragedy and stands as a warning to those left behind to continue the fight.
