W.A.I.L. - Wisdom Through Agony Into Illumination and Lunacy Vol. II (2018)

It's been for quite some time that Finland's W.A.I.L. have been putting together the follow-up to their impressive 2009 debut Wisdom Through Agony into Illumination and Lunacy, their acronym writ to its fullest, but the band has not gone forgotten as another example from this scene of a quality act just below the surface of the scene's thriving roster. For Volume II of their legacy, they've honed in on just two extensive tracks clocking in at around 24 and 34 minutes respectively, even longer than those populating their debut. Normally this could prove the kiss of death for an album, breeding repetitious monotony, but rather than pen a few tracks with scant ideas, these are both epic pieces that transcend through a good number of riffing shifts and atmospherics that absolutely string the listener along on a journey into shadowed rituals and vile philosophies.

As with the earlier material, W.A.I.L. spin a web of black and death metal which on occasion breaks into a slower, doom-laden groove, and they actually balance out these styles rather evenly. The vox, while not intensely guttural, are clearly representative of the death metal genre, while a lot of the mesmeric, faster riffing is tremolo picked black metal crested by dissonant, glinting notes which offer just enough variety to keep things interesting. The slower sequences are choppy and seismic, almost like a bridge between traditional doom/death and atonal black metal atmosphere, and the material spans a satisfactory range of tempos so the attention is never being dulled. Near the end of "Through Will to Exaltation Whence Descent Into a Bottomless Black Abyss", they cede into some cleaner strings that are joined by lower, steadily plodding percussion and other instruments which create a compelling and calming transition. This nicely sets up the following track, "Reawakening Through Anguish Into Gestalt of Absolute", in which the calm continues, some chanted, droning cleaner vocals accompanying the plucked, folksy strings and substrate of ambiance until they again erupt into the more aggressive craft, another segue with rolling, dire classical pianos, and back once more.

Again, I have to reiterate that while this is technically two tracks, there are enough riffs here to populate a normal black or death metal album, and for that reason the swollen lengths and conceptual riffing arcs are more easily digested. There is a consistent flow to this sophomore which shows careful plotting, and the idea to wrench the listener back and forth between searing savagery and meditation casts an emotional spell. I also liked the inquisitive, personal nature to some of the lyrics balanced against the poetic cascading imagery of others; especially for how many there are, they make the album feel like even more of a journey that the listener is putting himself or herself through. Production is just raw enough to satisfy the cellar ghouls, but clear enough to distinguish all the instrumentation, important when you're incorporating items like a kentele or didgeridoo, which W.A.I.L. does smoothly along with the gorgeous pianos and cleaner string progressions. Certainly this is on par with the band's debut, and while theirs isn't a name instantly recognized among their more prolific countrymen, they are certainly another example of a Finnish act which understands the wedding of darkness to instruments, and well worth checking out if you enjoy hybrids of traditional black and death metal into a memorable union.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (it's all starting to creep to my awareness)

W.A.I.L. - s/t (2013)

Resonance: some albums achieve it, and some are born from its womb. The latest eponymous title from Finland's W.A.I.L. could confidently be categorized to the latter effect, due to its heavily atmospheric tendencies. Blackened death and doom that seems so thoroughly conceptualized through the lyrics and liner notes in the tape's accompanying booklet that you have to wonder, what came first? The riffs or the decision to explore these philosophical/historical themes ranging from Buddha to Sparta? Note progressions and chord choices here are hardly as complex as the subject matter they support, but completely complementary to the ephemeral nature of the ideas expressed, and like the last s/t from 2009, the album possesses both a soothing and sociopathic sense of contrast cultivated through moments of controlled tension and tranquil release. The songwriting is not so memorable as the intellect of its author, unfortunately, but W.A.I.L. can easily hook your attention and keep it across a number of listens.

The greatest strength of this latest eponymous excursion is in its production, which for a cassette release is all too well balanced across multiple frequencies. Bass lines swell and groove with determination, providing a rich substrate for the highly atmospheric but still riff-wrought rhythm guitars. The drums thunder and crash, with fills that sound fantastic and just enough technicality that you could listen to them without the other instruments and still feel a sense of momentum. The vocals are definitely where W.A.I.L. steer slightly deeper into death metal territory, a wrathful guttural howl which retains some of the rasped edge of its parent genre but contributes massively to the depth and thoroughness of the recording. Lastly, the airier, dissonant guitars that explore the higher range of chords on the fretboard are balanced out with these substantial lower end riffs caught somewhere between the realms of black, death and doom metal, and the result is a fragile balance of both the accessibly heavy and sublime. What's more, the Finns have no qualms about the incorporation of piano segments, or cleaner guitars that help manifest emotional contrasts and climaxes through the track list...it sounds fantastic. Frankly, when I popped the tape into the sketchy cassette deck (which broke after only a handful of listens), I didn't expect such a robust and pensive experience...

...which, granted, is not a massive leap in style from the 2009 full-length, but I got the impression that they were aiming for something marginally less ominous and far more philosophical this time out, a feat which is handily achieved by the time the smoke clears from Side A. W.A.I.L. is obscure and intelligent without the requisite technicality or toilet-bowl production values that might entail, and they are easily one of the better acts I've heard in terms of measuring off their constituent sub-genres into a fulfilling, consistent whole which rarely traipses across the paths of many other Finnish acts I've encountered. Ample variation without any sacrifice of their roots, and plenty of lyrics and explanations to ponder when you've immersed yourself into the musical side. It never hides its influence, which are firmly in the atmospheric 90s black/death camp (specifically the Scandinavian masters), but it also doesn't sound too directly like any one in particular. If compared to its predecessor, Wisdom Through Agony into Illumination and Lunacy, I might lean slightly in favor of that, but the difference in quality is about a hair's width, and it's worth a chance for anyone with a preference for thoughtful, atmospheric, shadowy songwriting.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10] (by the law of all; lawlessness)

WAIL - Wisdom through Agony into Illumination and Lunacy (2009)

The title of Wisdom Through Agony Into Illumination and Lunacy is a bit more than a mouthful, and frankly I think a lot of bands reach a little too far with such acronyms. What would have been wrong with just Wail? It's a good word, a word of suffering, of torment, of ghosts drifting through the midnight fogs. Granted there's not a lot of wails to be found here on their debut, but they've got negative emotions ins spades. Originally released only on LP, but now given a second chance through Ahditsuken Aihio with a new remastered CD edition with appropriately gloomy new artwork, the album is one of the better I've heard in recent years at fusing the genres of death, black and doom metal into a cohesive journey into shadow.

Massive, muddy walls of tone inebriate the Finnish band's versatile compositions, and they are gifted in their ability to present a 10-13 minute track that never repels or alienates the attentive listener. From the light, ritual fuzz of "Initiation" with its distant, despairing vocal and ominous piano tones, it is clear that WAIL is trying to hypnotize you, to great effect, and the mere bass line that opens "Wisdom" transforms into a 10+ minute testimonial of crushing, atmospheric death/doom with decaying, thick riffs that will instantly brew bad luck and black clouds above you. Ditto for "Agony" with the steady, rolling drum march that inaugurates its dire, plucked melodic resonance and deep digging ancient doom riffs. "Illumination" channels a monolithic, downtrodden riff into dissonant grace, while the enormous and varied "Lunacy" (13+ minutes) hashes together anything from swerving, primal schizoid thrash to desolate expanses of clean guitars and bass, picking up into a near refrain of the album's intro before some closing, distorted guitars that manifest in hideous waves of oppressive, metallic pyschedelia.

So don't be put off by the shoddy acronym, because the actual musical content here is well worth a listen if you missed its original release. The bleak, curious artwork and lyrical admonishments are perfectly suited to its sound, and it's great to hear another Finnish band taking a chance with this combination, and pulling it off nearly as well as their more admittedly horror-pulp starved, less philosophical countrymen Hooded Menace. Wisdom Through Agony Into Illumination is raw, powerful, cryptic and yet strangely memorable, and should serve the band well within the expanding popularity of obscure, atmospheric death metal sounds which summon up the spirits of the genres' progenitors and embellish them with an even ghastlier pallor.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (and what I found was oceanwide)