O Wretched Man - The Decomposing Shrine

O Wretched Man are a fresh band in the world of metal with only this 3 song EP to their name at the moment. However the ideas they’re expressing on this EP are something to be excited about. The band, while definitely needing a boost in the production department, does a fantastic job blending multiple genres of metal such as Death, Thrash, and minor Core elements. There are also portions of this EP that remind me a lot of Dethklok.

While the production is not top notch, it’s not something that’ll really drive you away. It has a bit of an old school feel because of it, but everything is mixed well enough to be heard and nothing really feels buried at all, the bass guitar could use a boost, but it can be heard from time to time and does accent the guitars well enough. The vocals really shine on this album though. They remind me heavily of Dethklok, but with more of a gurgle to them, with the addition of these incredibly high screamed vocals on a very few occasions. It’s quite a range and pretty impressive.

The album begins with a Middle Eastern feeling prayer or song of sorts, at least that is what I am assuming it is as the prayer is in another language, but it is a very interesting opening that is met with a groovy thunderous riff with those great gurgled vocals on top. The prayer sets up the album for some nice atmosphere, but that style of atmosphere is not really held up at all throughout the album, except for the fact that the vocals are sometimes layered in haunting ways that works really well, and the very end of the album ends in a similar very Middle Eastern tone with lots of cool instruments, but overall the album could have used a boost in this established atmosphere. Maybe incorporate more of these elements in the future the way Nile incorporates Egyptian music and such?

Overall it’s truly hard to judge a band when all you have is three songs to go on, but O Wretched Man have started on the right foot, a boost in production and atmosphere could definitely help them go farther in their career, and I hope to hear more from them in the future. There’s a lot of promise here, and I hope it’s kept up.

You can download their EP via the bands last.fm too! Follow this link.