It’s Monday and Mondays suck, so let’s grind it out with Warfuck’s This Was Supposed to Be Fun.
You know, I legit don’t think I’ve featured a French band on this column yet. I don’t think. I could go back and check but ADD would probably just sneak up on me and I’d forget it the second I read it. If only Mondays came and went that quickly, no?
Lyon, France’s Warfuck have been grinding out tunes since 2011. Comprised of two members, drummer/vocalist Mak Garnet and guitarist/vocalist Nik Latreille (both members also play in the band Obnoxious), the guys grind, thrash and blast with an old school attitude. Think The Kill, Lock Up and PLF.
This Was Supposed to Be Fun was release as early as last week, actually, though I’m just stumbling upon it now. Hey, it’s difficult to keep up these days. But through twenty-two minutes, Warfuck grind in faces and reaffirm something I always try to hammer home: old school grind doesn’t die.
Enter: “Back to Basics.” A song that gets to blasting exactly one second into the song and doesn’t let up for ninety-seconds. Right here, right now, you’re going to know if this album is for you or not. Tasty, blasting, speed-freak bits one after the other with little in the way of slowdown. The second track overrated keeps up the momentum and raises the energy level as it starts blasting and thrashing even harder only a minute into the song. The ending of it is even a little chuckle-worthy as it suggests that the band is about to slow down. Nope, fake out.
Warfuck does eventually get to slowing down slightly though. Four songs in. Though the band maintains a blast-itude towards almost every aspect of their songwriting, “A Grain of Sand” actually slows for just a little bit. It’s unusual for the record, but it does allow for some breathing room. “Sous I’Eau” actualy has one of the heaviest sections on the album that allows the band to simply embrace the brutality for a few moments before getting back on the blast train.
It’s actually their descents into hardcore/punk sections that break up the album the best. Having an album of all blasts is fun, yes, but maintaining momentum and intensity becomes atonal for a lot. So when “Dopamine and Frustration” hits, it gives the album a good break from sheer, face-peeling blasts for something more circle pit driven.
All in all, if you like grind, you’re going to feel immediately at home with This Was Supposed to Be Fun (also a fantastic blanket statement for life in general). The album is unrelenting, combining moments of thrashy grind with hardcore/punk and deathgrind. Warfuck play like they’ve got a PhD in the genre. Get grinding with this one.
I'm here.
