Pure Wrath – Hymns to the Woeful Hearts (Review)

Somehow I can’t really help myself. Actually, what Pure Wrath do on Hymns to the Woeful Hearts is pretty much my shit. It has endless blasts, the songs are long and seem to be varied and every now and then moments flash up to which much time and dedication evidently was given.

But as mentioned before: the songs seem as if they’re full of variation, but you actually get about five times the same song here plus the standout title number. Again and again it comes to a mixture of banging, acoustic and partly really nice sections and banging. Seems well thought out, but wears out faster than you would think with the song lengths.

Sound-wise Pure Wrath reminds of a mixture of early Marduk, many current trends and now and then even Wintersun. The opening “The Clock of Disquiet” already sets the listener up for what is to follow almost continuously now: Witcher vibes and blast beats. Some of the acoustic parts work really well, like the piano outro on “Years of Silence”; the acoustic part on the late “Those Who Stood Still”, however, just sounds crooked.

Nevertheless, the various instruments always come into their own, the sound is just right, no doubt about it, but nothing sticks with me. It lacks that certain something, the special, the spark, the hit. My highlight should be the final title song. This number, free of vocals, is predestined to serve as theme music for a dark Japanese anime series with complicated characters.

All in all, Hymns to the Woeful Hearts is a solid album, well done craft without any real highlights. Kind of a typical seven out of ten: Nice, but quickly forgotten.