Deströyer 666 - Call of the Wild EP (2018)

It's a difficult thing to follow up a masterpiece, or at least what I personally perceive to be a masterpiece, and so Deströyer 666 did the exact opposite. They released a humble EP, the Call of the Wild, with a title and cover art that resonate with the bestial mascots and warlike energies they've associated with in the past. While the style throughout these four tracks isn't a long distance from Wildfire, the production does feel a little more controlled and claustrophobic, there is still a good atmosphere created through the vocals and higher string guitar work, but there's something less affecting about it all, like they had torn the roof off in 2016 but for some reason it's been repaired or replaced. That's not a deal breaker, because the tunes here are still solid, but I'd be lying if I didn't describe this as somewhat of a disappointment.

"Trialed by Fire", the closer here, is a re-recording from the Terror Abraxas EP, and I'm juggling which of the two that I find superior; this one is slightly more atmospheric, and the cleaner vocal barks are more pronounced, but I think in terms of the production I'd go with the old one. The other three tracks are all pretty solid, especially "Violence is Golden" and "Call of the Wild" itself, which sound like outtakes from Wildfire but with that denser, cramped production I mentioned above. I don't know that they would have fared better on the full-length, they're actually a little redundant with better tracks, but they are certainly the highlights for me when I'm spinning through this, and the latter has that droned chorus part where the little guitars and counter-vocals spike out and it's pretty much the high point of the 20 minutes, an idea that I hadn't quite heard from them before. The mix is fine, the vocals standout but the instruments often seem to muddle together a little...drums, bass and rhythm guitars. That does help distinguish the leads, but I just think it felt a little more rushed and less impressive than Wildfire.

And I keep repeating that title, but hey, that's what you get when you've set my expectations so high and then tempered them a bit! Call of the Wild is decent, but other than Terror Abraxas, Deströyer 666 does not have a high success rate for me with their shorter releases. They are, to me, a full-length sort of band where I want to be blown over by that full 40-ish minute experience, sure I can lean into certain tracks on a playlist, but they put a lot more effort into the albums (obviously) and so I'd rather put my own effort into listening to them.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.destroyer666.uk/