What a ripper. This requires a bit of background knowledge so bear with me.
In 2022, a band called Vatican released an album titled ‘Ultra.’ It was a bit different from their previous music, but it was getting a lot of hype. Despite the attention, Vatican broke up without making a statement. Their vocalist even responded to a Reddit thread and confirmed the situation by saying the break up is “not hush hush, but [there will] probably [be] no statement from [the] band account.” And that was the end of it – Vatican died a silent death.
Interestingly though, in the immediate aftermath, many of Vatican’s members, including its two former vocalists, created a new band called Psycho-Frame. I featured them in a recent newsletter, and they’re one of my favorite modern deathcore bands.
Psycho-Frame has been killing it during the last few years, but unfortunately, two months ago, they announced that one of their vocalists (Jonathan Whittle, Vatican’s original vocalist), is stepping away from the band because he can’t tour full time. It’s great that Psycho-Frame is rising through the ranks, but it’s sad that they’ll have to do it with a slightly different line up.
Not to worry though, this recent split is what helped create Warspawn. Jonathan Whittle is on vocals and he’s joined by a few other Psycho-Frame members. Critically, Hunter Young, the person responsible for the insane production and composition of Psycho-Frame and Moodring is also a part of Warspawn.
It’s honestly hard to keep track of everything each member is involved in. Psycho-Frame’s other vocalist is also the vocalist of Church Tongue, and they just put out a really good metalcore EP. The whole thing is incestuous. The core members are absolutely phenomenal and their range of talents can’t be expressed through a single band so they splinter off and create these incredible side projects.
Looking closer at Warspawn specifically, this is a vicious EP. Whittle’s higher screams are like a serrated blade slicing through the fast paced instrumentals. They’re branding themselves as a hardcore band, and there are a lot of those elements present, but don’t expect something like Terror or Stick To Your Guns. The best comparison is a band called Get The Shot (which barely missed out on a top 10 spot on my 2022 album of the year list).
Warspawn nailed the hardcore ethos while introducing enough variety to keep things interesting. “Scars From The World” closes with a guitar solo and “Enemies of Ascension” has a really cool feudal Japanese thread that comes out of nowhere to elevate the end of the track. “Immaculate Objection” and many other songs also have vocal styles that give the effect of gang vocals, offering a flavorful spin on a classic hardcore sound.
This is a fiery debut from a band that has a bright future. The only thing that will hold them back is the fact that they won’t be able to tour. Other than that, this is exactly what I would expect from a hardcore version of Psycho-Frame. It’s ferocious, has a lot going on with the fast paced instrumentals, and offers unrelenting vocals.
Warspawn // Immaculate Objection
Categories: Reviews
