The two to three-year release cycle of metal albums leads to the fact that, whenever the cycle repeats, there is an influx of comparisons to the favorites of the albums that came out before. October is a stacked release month to begin with, but it seems like a significant amount of my favorites from three years ago are now due for comparison with their followups. Wayfarer made it onto my top 10 for 2020, when the blog was still in its infancy and more or less a one-man operation. Wayfarer understood well that the best way to make a Black Metal album is to make no Black Metal album at all. In plain genre terms, I don’t know how I would describe A Romance with Violence, other than that Gothic Americana, Post-Metal, Folk and of course Black Metal all played a part. Compared to the bands then preceding output, World’s Blood, A Romance with Violence had very little tremolo picking and was better for it. Twangy, flexible textures with a constantly moving guitar dominated the album. It was an album obsessed with this unusual approach to writing metal riffs, where notes are seldomly repeated and where the neck of the guitar is open to exploration, similar to how Bluegrass players like Molly Tuttle approach it. Atmosphere in Wayfarer‘s world is a consequence of understanding the history of the genres they decided to meld, rather than relying on samples or insisting on flavor where there is none, like so many Black Metal artists tend to do.
Where A Romance with Violence seemed to focus on the violent, rugged individualism often associated with the Western genre, American Gothic fittingly dials up the darkness and the Gothic Americana influence that comes with it. The album is slower, but not necessarily less dense. The vocals are overall more decipherable — even going so far as to include cleans — but I am unsure if this is all a marketing push for more widespread appeal or if it comes with the increased Gothic Nature of the album. I criticized hammy narration on a recent Stortregn review, but I think it mostly works here. For one, the voice chosen possesses enough gravitas that the sections don’t fall flat for it, secondly, this seems to quote old western movies as much as it is a musical choice and lastly, the lyrics chosen are just better. The album doesn’t necessarily lose much of its impact for those choices, but I can’t help but feel that some variety is lost. While American Gothic is a good showcase for the bands unique riffing style, there is also a lot of it on the album and not all that much to differentiate different sections. Variety comes more in song structures and occasional switch-ups in speed and intensity than it comes in instrumental approach. I admit that this is likely less of an issue for non-musician listeners and that the album is way more diverse than your usual second-wave tremfest, but I still can’t help feeling that some material quality got somewhat lost in pursuit of atmosphere, as is often the case.
2023 has been a year strong with Death Metal, while Black Metal, a genre I am fairly critical towards to begin with, seems to at best perform average. This contrasts 2020, where I feel Death Metal had a rather weak year. Wayfarer deliver a strong outing and they build on their sound and I would not rule out a list placement but it is somewhat of a step down, even if only slightly.
