WREX
This Hell Goes A Long Way Down (EP) – Self-Released
A band’s debut EP or LP is often thought of as a calling card, a place where they can show off their various wares, and that’s precisely what WREX’s latest release does. Featuring six tracks that are stitched together by their very eclecticism, This Hell Goes A Long Way Down evidences a creative unit who know no musical boundaries, fearlessly throwing nu-metal, punk, rap and trance onto their palette and painting a sound that’s wholly original. Attesting to a sense of urgency, opening track ‘Take A Walk’ gets straight down to business and WREX’s multifaceted approach is very much in evidence here; seemingly irreconcilable genres are fused into a cohesive whole and the result is a song that sweeps the listener along in its slipstream. Two vocalists (both male and female) add to the band’s unpredictability and it’s never knowing in which direction WREX will veer next that makes them such an intriguing proposition. Yet, despite their wholeheartedly embracing modernism, what glues this EP together is old fashioned stuff like melody and song structure, meaning that these six songs will attach themselves to your cranium like limpets and leeches and, belying the EP’s title, make a heavenly affair.
Review by Peter Dennis