NEMESIS

The Wring were brought together by guitarist Don Dewulf in 2015, since when they have had a different line-up on each album, this being the fourth. Bassist Reggie Hache played on the last release, 2022's 'Spectra' and he returns, adding vocals and keyboards as well while on drums there is new member Kyle Brian Abbott who has quite a seat to fill given that Marco Minnemann played on the last album. Mind you, if he has any nerves, he certainly does not show it, as this is a blast from beginning to end. What we get here in the eight songs, just over 40 minutes in length, is a band who are coming at this from heavy rock roots with progressive and jazz influences.

There is something about this band which reminds me of a combination of Mastermind and Rush, but given they are Canadian it is perhaps not surprising that they have picked up some of those influences along the way. There is no room to hide in a trio, and each of these guys are on fire, happily blasting away doing whatever needs to be done to ensure the metallic beast which is The Wring keeps on blasting. It starts at the base, with a rhythm section who are content to both provide the platform and take lead roles when the need arises, a singer who is very good indeed (not sure why he did not sing on the last album, which I have not heard), and a guitarist who likes to provide thick licks and plenty of multi-tracking so the sound is always good and heavy.

They are much more heavy rock/hard rock than anything else, but the prog and jazz tendencies have just enough to push them out of the normal metal mainstream, so I can see why they were accepted by Heavy Prog on PA, but I can imagine it was an interesting discussion. I thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to seeing what they come up with next.