Wounded in Forest wants to make its mark in 2025.
Founded by former members of A Lie Nation Miikka Pyykkönen (bass/vocals), Joonas Kokkoniemi (guitar), Jussi Tuomisto (drums), and Joni Moisanen (guitar/vocals), the band announces its first EP, Antihuman Artist, on Inverse Records.
It kicks off with the heavy The Growth, which develops a very raw sound with a prominent bass in the mix, to which are added massive vocal parts that become quite macabre during unexpected accelerations. There are also a few passages with dissonant melodies, then with Take the Son of a Bitch, the band develops a frantic and aggressive approach with hints of Grind, sometimes tempered by groovier passages, as on Virent Carnes, which follows suit and strikes in turn with a catchy sound that ultimately becomes more virulent. We feel both violence and complexity in this rather Old School explosion that sets the pace until Godspeed Filthy Warrior, where we find brutality throughout most of the song, but also an intriguing and rather gloomy passage where screams and lamentations echo each other. It’s back to pure violence for Altar of Needles, which naturally alternates between catchy moments and rapid bursts that create a fairly intense rhythm, then The Last Leg delivers the final blow with a martial rhythm that ultimately becomes quite oppressive, letting the guitars distill a hazy sound while the vocalists make the moment unhealthy before the final charge.
Short but effective, Antihuman Artist brings Wounded in Forest onto the scene with a very raw and aggressive sound. Everything about their sound is abrasive and Old School, and I’m sure fans of underground tones will be delighted.
85/100