Hailing from London, Wren’s much-awaited third full-length instalment does not disappoint. Avid fans and casual listeners alike will recognise the cathartic feel of Wren from their appearances in festivals such as Damnation, Desertfest and Raw Power, spreading their emphatic sound. ‘Black Rain Falls’ encapsulates all aspects of humanity into one neatly tied package of resounding potential.
The opening track ‘Flowers Of Earth’ hits the mark right off the bat. With an ambient, rhythmic build-up that crescendos into some dominant lyricism, the deep, pounding grief that underlines the album is present from the start. The drumming carries a sense of wallowing to it, exhaling emotion with every punch and hammer. Written from a place of immense anguish after the tragic suicide of the band's close friend during COVID times, the trauma expressed throughout this track (and the album as a whole) resonates with all of us in a deeply personal and profound way.
The subsequent tracks persevere with this dynamic tone. The overlapping vocals in ‘Toil in The Undergrowth’ create this great cacophony of sound, audibly conversing the multifaceted layers of grief the album explores. ‘Betrayal Of The Self’ holds so much power within it due to the intensity it carries, which only brings disappointment as the vocals feel quite strangled on this track, obscuring the poignant vocals at times.
‘Cerebral Drift’, the fourth title on this album, is notably different from the others - and not just in length. The instrumental track displays the more tortuous side of grief, delving into the internal, the cerebral, the intimate. By diverging from the rest and being a distinctive break from the emphatic vocals, it becomes a meditative moment of reflection, one that we all seek and need after the hard-hitting, all-consuming grief present.
'Black Rain Falls' is truly one of the best musical explorations of grief I have ever had the privilege to listen to. Drifting from denial, to depression to acceptance, it becomes a cry for every generation having to live in this desolate world we are all born into, solidifying and conceptualising all the desperation and anguish felt into seven striking songs.
‘Black Rain Falls’ will be released on February 21st 2025 via Church Road Records.
Words: Dylan Milton
Photos: Wren
تعليقات