SINCE THEIR INCEPTION in the winter of 2016, Indiana metalpunk trio WRAITH have quickly (and deservedly) taken their place at the forefront of the black thrash genre, alongside the likes of TOXIC HOLOCAUST, MIDNIGHT and INEPSY. And they’ve been pretty prolific in that time, releasing two full length albums - 2018’s ‘Heed The Warning’ and the storming ‘Absolute Power’ in 2019 - and two Eps - ‘Wraith’ (2017) and ‘Index Case: The Quarantine Sessions’. The latter was recorded and released during lockdown. I got in touch with guitarist/vocalist MATT SOKOL for a quick Q&A:
How did WRAITH begin, and what inspired your early sound?
Wraith was formed as a one-man band initially. I was trying
to start a band for a while, but no one was interested in jamming that style of
music, so I went ahead and wrote a few songs, and the rest is history! The
early sound was inspired by classic 80’s thrash and punk rock for sure.
How does the new album ‘Absolute Power’ compare with 2018’s ‘Heed The Warning’?
Well, I would say that Absolute Power is kind of the logical next step. Heed the Warning was an awesome album, and we were/are still very proud of it. It is full of awesome songs, but Absolute Power is what really gave us a boost with the fans.
One of the best things about WRAITH is its simplicity. The riffs are straight forward and there is no double bass drum on the new album. Is this simplicity deliberate?
We strive to make the songs catchy. We do not want to
overcomplicate things. We love simple straight forward music, and I think a lot
of other people do too. The simple sound is definitely intentional.
Shortly after ‘Absolute Power’ was self-released, the album was picked up by Thrashing Cult Records. How did that come about?
The dealing with Thrashing Cult Records came about shortly after we signed with REDEFINING DARKNESS RECORDS. We wanted to be sure we could distribute ‘Absolute Power’ to as many places as possible. RDR did not have much distribution in Asia, and we were approached by Thrashing Cult, so it just made sense for us to do it.
Metalpunk is a broad genre, covering everything from 1st wave black metal to some crust. How would you define the genre and WRAITH’s place in it?
It’s a bit fuzzy at this point haha. It seems like lots of people will tag themselves as “crossover” or “metal punk”, and it can definitely mean a lot of things. I think that when Wraith started the idea was that I wanted it to be a Thrash band. The cool thing about music is that you can never really control the way it turns out. I certainly do not mind the “blackened thrash” or “metal punk” label, but in my mind, we are just a thrash band.
How do you feel about being compared to TOXIC HOLOCAUST so often?
I think it is a total honour to be compared to one of the best thrash bands in our generation. I have no quals with that whatsoever! I do sometimes wish people would recognize that there are some things Wraith do a bit differently.
What’s the best experience you’ve ever had in WRAITH?
I think the best experience so far has been releasing ‘Absolute Power’, and it getting the response it has gotten so far. It’s been really cool to put out an album that all of us believed in and see other people care about it so much too. Plus it’s been a dream come true to have it released on so many platforms.
Is the new wave of thrash as good as the old-school?
I think that it has evolved a ton! You can still hear the 80’s thrash at the core, but it has come a long way. I think its badass! I am a huge music fan so I love all thrash old and new.
Any recommendations among the new?
HELLRIPPER, BEWITCHER, LOWEST CREATURE, BARBARIAN, and tons of others!
It has been really challenging. We have not been able to get together until just recently, and we had some pretty cool shows get moved out. It sucks, but at the end of the day there isn’t a whole lot we can do about it. But check out the new EP! It was written, recorded and released during quarantine. It’s 4 brand new songs that are super dark and pissed off. Long live heavy metal!
WRAITH’s new EP ‘Index Case: The Quarantine sessions’ was released on 4th May. It’s four songs ‘Outbreak’, ‘Isolation’, ‘Diagnosis’ and 'Extinction' will be available as extra tracks on future hard copies of ‘Absolute Power’.
J. Cooper
COPYRIGHT METAL PUNK INFERNO (2020)
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