erase the decay -wastelands

Erase The Decay

Wastelands
self-released; 2014

3.0 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Erase The Decay is a five-piece punk/alternative rock band located in Haverhill, UK that has some potential. They recorded their recent EP Wastelands by themselves and while there are some decent songs amongst the batch the production is too poor to salvage the material. It sounds as if they may have had one mic and just pressed record. Don’t get me wrong I like lo-fi raw productions but there is very little separation amongst the instrumentation and a laundry list of things that adversely affect the listening experience. On top of that the vocalist is rarely on key, which adds to the chaotic noise. 

Tom Blackwell is the lead vocalist and is all over the place in terms of style. For instance, on the song “Wastelends” he goes from rapping to a soaring, singing vocal to a death metal growl. The experience to say the least was a bit jarring and may have worked better if there were different people attempting these singing styles. I appreciate Blackwell’s ambition to cover multiple vocal styles but in the end it just kind of leaves you feeling confused about the direction of the music. 

The guitars provided by Mark Wheeler and Adam Fielden are distorted loud and usually consist of hard rocking riffs while the drummer Sean Rawlinson is pretty impressive.

The best thing that these guys have going for themselves right now is that they you can tell that they are enjoying the music they make and are having a blast creating it. My advice to the band is to do whatever they can to get the quality of the recording better. Befriend an engineer, become an intern and use the studio at night like Trent Reznor did early on in his career or just save up some cash and record in a studio. Godspeed.

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