It’s going to be 97 degrees tomorrow (which apparently will feel like 106), and the air conditioning just died. At 9 p.m. When it’s really easy to get service to come out, especially when your neighborhood is considered dangerous because non-whites live around here. I am baking alive in a house with poor air circulation, sweating out each minute.
Wailin Storms’ fifth record “The Arsonist” certainly delivers similar physical heat, but it also grinds your mind down into sweat and grit. The band’s doomy, thunderous, fiery rock is dragged through Southern dust, tossed with Gothic colors, and spit back out as ready-to-use fuel. The band—vocalist/guitarist Justin Storms, guitarist/Rhodes organist/piano player/vocalist Ben Melton, bassist Steve Stanczyk, drummer Mark Oates—dashes through tales, confessions, and diatribe dripping with gas, ready for a spark to send it blazing into the night sky. It’ll make you sweat mind and body.
“Dead End” starts with the guitars smoking, the singing clouding, a dusty, driving pace kicking things into high gear. The intensity peaks as screams ripple, coldness sneaking up on you, the guitars flexing as the power feels like a lather strap across your back. “Heart of Mine” quivers as it emerges, feeling like a rattlesnake sending warning, clawing as Storms calls, “Can’t we understand that all the problems start with man?” No arguments there. The playing unleashes sunburst, keys melt as the guitars char, striking until the bitter end. “You Never Answered” punches in, howled words bruising with balled fists, Storms declaring, “I’m not dead … yet!” On/off thrashing makes blood race, Storms insisting, “I tried to call, but you never answer,” acoustics adding texture to the volatility. The title track starts with Storms howling, “Lover, you’ve got me shaking,” moodiness sweeping into guitar echo, the playing weeping through static-filled punches. The calm rebounds as slide guitar glistens, the calls reaching out desperately, Storms leveling, “You always had a hold on me.”
“Never Rest” has the guitars agitating and chugging, a Zeppelin-style stomp leaving boot marks, drawing blood and choking on mud. “I get no rest ever,” Storms sings, “please give me peace,” as the playing ignites, the volume doing ample damage. “I’ve seen it all before, fuck your fucking war,” Storms stings before repeatedly yelling, “Die! Die! Die!” as molten anger flows like a river. “Saved” steams, a calculated pace pushing, the singing prodding as the guitar work gets thicker. Things get burlier as the vocals spit nails, the energy stretches, and everything melts in the hot sun. “Patient Night” has guitars striking and the bass coiling, the playing feeling blistering and then pillowy. The chorus rouses and washes over you, the pace pummels, and the fluid chaos pools like blood. “The Wind” is swampy and heavy, trudging over hot pavement, Storms calling, “Shame shame, see your eyes start to change, shame shame, how our mind starts to fade.” The playing rips apart, slide guitars heating up, the playing trucking before hitting a brief bit of calm. The mood feels like it’s locked in the desert, howls rising as the darkness bends, bleeding into silence. Closer “It’s All Dark Now Where Your Eyes Used to Be” lets piano drip, the discomfort sprawl, and tensions rise. Apocalyptic visions ooze, foreboding spirits make your muscles shake, and Storms calls, “Your reflection only says one thing, there’s a hole where your heart’s supposed to be,” as everything washes into the horizon.
Wailin Storms have a heaviness that’s both physical and psychological on “The Arsonist,” a record that’ll choke your lungs with dust and thick blankets of smoke. This is very human music, the type that results from heartbreak, anger, and frustration, sending warning that the emotions have coiled and are ready to strike. This music weighs on you, it batters more than just your ears, and it leaves you buried in the dirt, heaving.
For more on the band, go here: https://wailinstorms.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here (U.S.): https://shopusa.season-of-mist.com/list/wailin-storms-the-arsonist
Or here (International): https://shop.season-of-mist.com/
For more on the label, go here: https://www.season-of-mist.com/home/
Meat Mead Metal 