With a bounty of killer releases under the belt, and their sixth album, Thought Form Descent, on the way, Wake are the metal band you need to hear right now.
The Canadian outfit – comprising frontman Kyle Ball, guitarists Arjun Gill and Rob LaChance, bassist Ryan Kennedy and drummer Josh Bueckert – have unleashed two singles from the forthcoming LP into the wild so far: Swallow the Light and Infinite Inward, both brimming with a hearty blend of mosh pit-inducing electric guitar riffs and enveloping melodic arrangements.
And it is Guitar World's distinct pleasure to premiere LaChance and Gill's knockout playthrough of Infinite Inward. It's a masterclass in harnessing instrumental cacophony, as the pair bend the sonic elements to their will for six and a half minutes of metal carnage.
Gear-wise, LaChance uses a Gibson Les Paul Custom – equipped with a set of Lace Drop & Gain humbuckers – through an Orange Dual Dark 100W guitar amp head and 4x12 cab, and a pedalboard stocked with a Horizon Devices Precision Drive, Eventide H9 Harmonizer and an EarthQuaker Avalanche Run stereo reverb/delay.
Meanwhile, Gill plays an EverTune-loaded LTD MH-1000 with Avedissian Diamondback pickups, through a Peavey 6534+ amp and Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cab, Source Audio Ventris reverb pedal and an MCR Carbon Copy delay pedal.
“For this track, we used a lot of delay, shimmer and church reverb to create a sort of hypnotic/atmospheric effect that contrasts nicely with the crisp heavy chords in the track's opening section,” the pair explain. “Our picking patterns are dynamic as we go from rapid tremolos to lightly strummed chords to chunky palm mutes.”
- Wake's new album Thought Form Descent arrives July 22 via Metal Blade.
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