Wake, Sowing the Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow

When preparing to listen to an album titled Sowing the Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow, one must prepare mentally themselves for sounds echoing a sense of anger, despair and perhaps even revolution. What one does not expect is a healthy dose of experimental, noise and sludge elements peppering Wake’s take on grindcore.

These Canadian grinders belt through eight tracks of furious tempo shifts, discordant noise and rumbling blasts in just over nineteen minutes, leaving you ready to hit that play button again and again. “Burn Well” sets the tone immediately with scathing vocals, earth-rattling rhythms and sludgy guitars. Mixing squealing reverb with manic drums, “Wretched Tongues” is about as violent a song as you’ll find on Sowing the Seeds. The group is wise, however, to temper their attack with nicely timed moments of levity (steady double bass, lurching riffs and ambient noise) that give you neck an opportunity to recuperate.

I love the nasty start to “Drones” as the band settles into off-kilter guitars and staggered rhythms. “Better Living Through Apathy” sees an increase in discordant and melodic guitars punctuated with rabid grizzly bear explosions. A less-than-grindy tempo keeps you on your toes for the driving “Low” while “Unrelenting Hate” predictably brings the rabid frenzy back into play with an immediacy. I love the shifts and lurches that dominate “Vultures” as the group smoothly transitions from flesh-flaying grind to tempered restraint and back again with ease.

“Endless Decay” wraps up Sowing the Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow with the same fury that it began with. The entire affair goes by in sure a blur that multiple listens are required to fully digest everything Wake are throwing at you with each song. Be prepared.