WOVENWAR – Wovenwar

Rising from the ashes of As I Lay Dying, the four remaining members got together with Oh Sleeper vocalist Shane Blay, to form Wovenwar and record their self titled debut album which is out on august 5th on Metal Blade Records.

With guitarist Nick Hipa growing up with Shane Blay, it all seemed rather natural that he should join Wovenwar and certainly seems to have added a new dimension to the style of music offered on the album. Hardly a screaming vocal to be heard here, and certainly nothing nearly as hard edged as either As I lay Dying or Oh Sleeper, instead we have something that is altogether more accessible and goes a long way to dispel any preconceived thoughts of ‘just another metal-core album’ that potential listeners may have had.

Nick Hipa and Phil Sgrosso’ s guitar riffage is stunning in places, in terms of both melody and technical ability, tracks like ‘The Mason’ & ‘Profane’ are full of positive energy and are real highlights. ‘All Rise‘ seems like a call to arms but also like it resounds on a personal level with what the band have been through over this past couple of years but for the full length of the record the pace rarely lets up as the 5 piece set about laying waste to my eardrums.

The only real changes in tempo are during the tracks ‘Father/Son’ (which is the least heavy track on the album), and the beginning of ‘Prophets’. As ‘Prophets’ continues though it builds to a crescendo of guitar, bass and drums with Blay delivering some of his most vehement vocal melody as he sings “always the loudest, who voice only their ignorance”.

Right from the opening intro ‘Foreword’ the listener is left in no doubt that, this is a band out to slay some ghosts. In both it’s scope and ambition it is a huge sounding, guitar driven, modern, melodic, metal, opus of an album that is sure to translate well to the live stage as they play Reading & Leeds festivals as well as heading out on tour with such metal luminaries as Black Label Society and then in Europe with In Flames.

Current Upcoming UK Tour Dates:
21st August – Barfly, London
23rd August – Reading Festival
24th August – Leeds Festival

Track Listing:
1. Foreword
2. All Rise
3. Death To Rights
4. Tempest
5. The Mason
6. Moving Up
7. Sight Of Shore
8. Father/Son
9. Profane
10. Archers
11. Ruined Ends
12. Identity
13. Matter Of Time
14. Prophets
15. Onward

Band Lineup:
Shane Blay [vocals] Jordan Mancino [drums] Nick Hipa [guitar] Phil Sgrosso [guitar] Josh Gilbert [bass, vocals]

Band Links:
http://wovenwar.com
https://www.facebook.com/wovenwar
https://twitter.com/WOVENWAR
https://www.youtube.com/user/WOVENWAR
http://instagram.com/WOVENWAR