ARTIST: Pure Wrath
ALBUM NAME: Hymn To the Woeful Hearts
COUNTRY: Indonesia
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Pure Wrath, is a Black Metal project led by Januaryo Hardy a multi-instrumentalist who hails from Indonesia. Pure Wrath has a multi-continental lineup that includes ex-White Ward drummer, Yurii Kononov on their latest album titled, Hymn to the woeful hearts, a follow-up to The Forlorn Soldier. The project serves as a way to pay homage to the people who survived and died in the Indonesian Genocide of 1965 where more than a million people died, this marked it as one of the worst mass murders in the 20th century. This release highlights the horror of it all. The album does a sensational job of encompassing a lot of the emotion a tragedy of that magnitude would carry.The album opens “The Quiet of Disquiet” which was the lead single for the album, the song sets the tone for what this album will. The sorrow conveyed on the song carries over into this project, it has to be said that the songwriting on this project is impeccable. The song that follows is “Years of Silence” it showcases the brilliance of Kononov, the diversity and pace of this song are led largely by his drumming. The song moves like time would in the circumstances that inspired its inception rendering further genius to how this album is written. Fast describes the song that follows, “Presages from a restless soul” is one of the heaviest songs on this album the drums and guitars come blaring in to help convey an impassioned message. “Footprints of the lost child” gets driven by amazing guitaring rather impressively; the song plays out like footsteps arduously dragging along leaving a path behind. The last part of this album is a feat in that it packs together a sound narrative – tracked by some of the best music in this genre thus far in 2022. “Those Who Stand” and “Hymn to the woeful hearts” are testament to this; the two closing songs are some of the strongest on the album. The titular track is a requiem that magnificently closes the album. The haunting incorporation of the piano and cello creates a haunting element that makes the song the absolute highlight of the album. It also concludes the vision and message of this album which is in part that the atrocity committed have not been forgotten.
Pure Wrath has done something brilliant with the perfect meeting of narrative and sound. The project is one every person with a vested interest should listen to.
Rating 9/10
Reviewed by Refiloe Mathelela[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]