Album Review // 2023-11-21

Wayfarer

American Gothic

Released: 2023-10-27

---

Wayfarer was one of the bands on my wishlist for an album this year, and I was happy to see they did, in fact, come out with one: American Gothic.

The band from Denver centers their themes around the American West, and the way it is viewed and has been mythologized. They recognize the fascination and romanticizing of some pretty dark times in history.

What drew me to them was the unique mixture of western and black metal. I just hadn't heard anything like them and it didn't seem gimmicky, but more of an authentic pull in that direction as a band.

So after many listens, here are my thoughts! I had to hear this!

Album Art

Simple artwork that looks like the sign for a dusty saloon. I like that it is only in shades of grey. It fits the theme.

Mood

I get a sense of loneliness here, like you are really having a hard time finding your worth amidst expectations and hardship. Of course, you can easily picture the cowboy, just him and his horse. I really think of men here, because the world has made all kinds of stories that tell men they have to be brave, even to death, and if they do die, they will be replaced. A sad story.

Vocals

I was surprised by the singing vocals. I don't remember hearing all of these voices in the past work of this band. It sounds kinda like something from the 70's or 80's, such as seen in the song False Constellation. I am actually a fan of some music from that era, so though it was a surprise, I liked it.

I don't think the harsh vocal is completely unique. I have heard similar before in some black metal bands, but it is more interesting paired with the style of music. I think it is a good choice. I like that it is fervent and the echo adds to the lonely landscape.

I like where they used the singing vocal with screams in the background at the same time. 

I never like vocal clips in music, and this is no exception. Actually, it felt even more out of place in this style than in others, but it also was only used a few times, so was easy to forget. I am sure it has great meaning to the band.

Really, in truth, there are a lot of different types of vocals used here. Sometimes you can overdo it, but I don't think they did here.

Music

They do well at making music around western guitar lines. And it doesn't end there; the rest of the elements carry it along. The reality is, I don't like western music, but they transformed it into something that is enjoyable. This is not something you hear all the time.

I get more out of this every time I listen because there is a lot going on here. 

There is an authenticity to this music and any music that tries to stick to what was real for the time period. You can travel to a different time and place. It feels like every detail has been thought of. These aren't musicians that are just playing a part.

They got the tones right here, the guitar sliding, the authentic instruments such as the organ. But because this is done so well, it doesn't feel cheezy or disrespectful.

I am impressed with the incorporation of black metal features, and even guitar solos, amongst western music. There seems to be a good flow in the music and it doesn't feel stuck. They knew how to open the album up, and how to close it. It felt like completing a book.

The Thousand Tombs of Western Promise

This is obviously talking about the effects of expanding the industrial world at the expense of many things. This is still the attitude of corporations today. More, more, more.

The new industrial god
machine
The barons of toil,
and their ever expanding reach
The driller a titan
The lender a lord
Prosperity in the open grave is what they preach

Within in the land of opportunity
A thousand tombs await
A toast to thee, oh captains of industry
It was always you,
You always held our fate

The Cattle Thief

You know how you have seen in movies, the poor starving person sneaking into a hen house and stealing someone's eggs and running for their life to escape as shots are fired past their head. The desperation. There are still people without food and shelter, but now they are laying on the ground covered in snow on the streets, while people walk over them. 

A reckoning comes
From those branded thieves
Driven to desperation
And desperate means

Sound out the bells of war
Within the county line
Here in the wake of the thaw
In a young nation blind

Reaper on the Oilfields

I think this song speaks to the danger involved with jobs that have been done throughout history. People are treated as dispensable. I know in Ontario there are ice runs where people drive large trucks across ice. They get paid great sums of money, but the danger involved is huge.

A reaper on
The oilfields
He's carried long
And he carries still

These plains will make for your shallow grave
They'll wrap you in a flag and
Forget your name, yeah

To Enter My House Justified

Can't help but think of the show Justified, which I watched recently. It was kind of an example of using the phrase, "it was justified," very wrongly. The whole series is based around this line. And honestly, there were many moments I wanted to trip the main character that is pumped up in showy ways, which keeps the fabricated parts of western ideals going. And I think we do justify things on a regular basis in life. Does it make us feel better?

Carve out your name Before time can forget Across the sky
A bitter history
Carry your shame
Your deeds can’t be undone
We are the lost
The sons of nameless graves

Oh lonesome rider
Lay down your guns
This world has left you behind
Time has won

Just one of endless sons of the frontier
The time has passed me by
Only one hope left to cling to
To enter my house justified

A High Plains Eulogy

I think this speaks to the idea of a disposable hero. Everyone just assumes he will do what is needed, but where is his value?

Where dreams lay
Shot down
I lay my head on down
These eyes have seen the clouds
They'll say, they'll say it's ours

These eyes have crippled doubt and it's one land they see
One land we dream about, and
It's there for me

I have seen enough
A poor man's dreaming, all alone

Black Plumes Over God's Country

I think this is speaking to the immediate, but not thinking of the long-term impact. Create something that makes so much smoke and then choke on it. Your lungs are getting coated in soot, but you keep at it.

Sing to me, our song of smoke
That billows out and leaves us grasping for release

The soot that covers
This open land
It lays us down, dust to dust
My choking hands

Sing to me! That ol' sad song
My exodus, my heavenly

False Constellation

I think this is about the false things that we can live by as individuals and groups. It keeps us going, but for what?

As the ages pass us by
They find us reaching for a light
In endless night

Left to question who we are
And if we’ll ever find a place
In this life

The mask is gone
Three hundred years
A tale untold
They hide their fear

You’ve got a shadow on your grave
A false constellation that you have made
You’ve got a shadow on your grave
The bells of time ring out for your name

Playlist Pick

To Enter My House Justified gets stuck in my head. I like the way the vocals work with the music, and the dynamics with some quieter and heavier moments. It will make it to my playlist.

Black Plumes Over God's Country just always draws me in. It feels so story-like and intense, even if it isn't the fastest, harshest song. I like it! There must be a reason the song title is in the closing statements of the song.