Ah, Ward XVI. Our good friends and a wonderful, wonderful success story on the independent music scene. It’s taken me a little while to get this review up due to “busy”, but now we’re into the school holidays I can finally write about what I’ve been listening to!
This three-album cycle has been a journey for Ward XVI and their inmates. A band who really sell themselves with their amazing live show, their albums have almost been second fiddle for me. It’s been enough to know the songs so that I can enjoy the blood-squirty, costume-driven horrorfest on stage. Much as I’ve enjoyed The Art of Manipulation and Metamorphosis, both really gelled for me when moulded together with the theatrics which help tell Psychoberrie’s story.
And now they’ve blown it all out of the water with Id3ntity. If Metamorphosis was that bit better, that bit more professionally produced, that bit more polished than the debut album… then Id3ntity is a masterpiece. What were sketches with Art were fleshed out in Metamorphosis and now we have a grand piece of over-arching art. I wrote a couple of months back when I got to see the video for “Blood Is The New Black” early (and this is copy/pasted from my conversation with The Dok: “Honestly? I genuinely think that’s the best song you’ve ever done. Hits all the right notes for me. Love the variety, the vocal styles, the “nu-metal” feel. Fucking brilliant.”
The album as a whole has taken those feels and run with it. The production on here is frankly immense. Yet I would not call it overproduced. There’s enough throughout to be bombastic and to fit each track’s identity (no pun intended) without it seeming “production first”. The songs, the intros, the interludes… they are hands down superb. Atmospheric, scene setting – this is pure theatre pressed onto CD.
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Opener “Regeneration” has a lengthy scene-setting intro which is just the right level of creepy, and “What’s in the Box” (an obvious reference to the superb Se7en which (coincidentally?) also has a bit of letter/number substitution) kicks in with the circus sounds before becoming an absolute bone-rattler.
“Macaberet” is a party piece and sounds like it’s backed by a jazz band. “I Spit on Your Grave” is more traditional fare from Ward XVI, haunting and melodic… but containing a lengthy segment which reminded me, in style, more of something like Les Miserables than anything else. And it works, so damn well.
The album rounds off with the anthemic “We Are Legion” which was released as a single recently, and it’s a strong way to finish off what is without any doubt at all Ward XVI’s strongest offering to date.
The genuine question with Psychoberrie’s story having now been told is… what next for Ward XVI? At least we have quite some months ahead of us on this album cycle to look forward to!
Ward XVI will have an album launch party with special guests Red Method at Manchester Academy 2 on Friday 25th July. For details and tickets head to the venue website.
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Id3ntity is out on July 11th and is available to pre-save or pre-order physically
Header image by Topher Maher
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