WarcryNot So Distant Future
Feral Ward
I’m gonna say something heretical here just so you know where I’m coming from. Tragedy’s last album, Nerve Damage, kinda disappointed me. Don’t get me wrong, the song writing was as stellar as d-beat gets and the musicianship was top tier, but it was the flat production that killed that album for me. Vengeance had that awesome, raw sound that gave the songs that needed oomph, that sense of urgency that lets punk continue to thrive despite generally not advancing the songwriting craft an iota since “Blitzkrieg Bop.”
Seems like Todd Burdette (Tragedy/ex-His Hero is Gone) may have had the same quibble because side project Warcry’s latest makes none of the same mistakes while pretty much treading the same punky waters that birthed his previous bands.
With His Hero Is Gone’s moody melodicism and Tragedy’s propulsion, eight song mini-album Not So Distant Future doesn’t stray far from the d-beat reservation but manages to add a soupcon of rock swing and swagger to the sound just to shake up the mix. “White Flag” even trots out a hair-whipping deedly-dee solo just to shake up the dun dun datting. Follow up “The New Age” puts on a punk rock clinic for rhythm sections, led by the synched galloping bass and drum battery that slingshots the song forward.
While self-described “anarchic noise destruction corps” Warcry don’t bring much new to the turntable (black and white art: check; apocalyptic ramblings about the world going to hell in a Hot Topic bag: you betcha), Burdette et al play and howl with enough conviction and intensity that it gives Not So Distant Future a palpable sheen of integrity and sincerity.
Minor critiques of Nerve Damage aside, Burdette has never put his name to anything less than near-perfection no matter what monicker he gives his crusty, d-beat ramblings and Warcry adds another wonderfully dingy patch to his jacket.
