Album Details

• Artist: The Fucking Wrath
• Album: Season Of Evil
• Label: Goodfellow
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2007-12-08

I don't particularly care for clone bands. I know there are many out there who love and passionately seek out bands identical or nearly so to those they love, and that's fine. I imagine we all do to certain extents, but when it comes to The Fucking Wrath and their debut, Season of Evil, I think we've reached some sort of limit on my kindness. If such a thing were to exist; I'm a really nice guy. But these guys are pure Mastodon worshippers, minus most of the progressive flair that former band can claim.

What makes me say that is simply the sound; full-speed-ahead at all times, this metal is blended southern-style and the vocals are the same gruff, primal chants and screams Mastodon utilizes, down to near-perfect imitation. The songs are mostly short 'get 'em and get out' affairs, which is good because by the time you reach "Past your Grave" at #6, you'll most likely be a bit spent. While their sound never quite seperates from that of their obvious influence (why don't they name them on their press release, I wonder? Black Sabbath, really?), they do manage to churn up some enjoyable mayhem on tracks like "To The Eels", "Church of the Apocolypse" (which owes more to classic Slayer), and my favorite, "Old Man and the Sea", which is the furthest the band allow their creative muscles to stretch. Cudos to them also for including a clip of evil dude Vego the Carpathian from the classic "Ghostbusters II" film.

Mastodon fans, here's your fix between releases. Metal fans, here's something you'll probably be familair with, but if not and you're in the mood for a thrashy, fist-pumping half hour, you might want to give Season of Evil a spin. For all of their rage, I'm afraid The Fucking Wrath are still rats in a cage (lol pun) of their own design; trapped by imitation. Flattery or not, they'll need to put more of themselves into it if they want to distinguish themselves from the dreaded 'clone band' tag. 

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