Created in 2015 in the thrash metal epicentre of the San Francisco Bay Area comes Wilderness Dream, a heavy metal unit of destruction combining the speed and fury of ‘80s thrash metal and ‘90s death metal into an explosive blast of blackened heaviness. The band released their debut self-titled 12” EP on Creator-Destructor Records in October of 2015, to critical acclaim and response; a fifteen-minute-long slab of blistering fast, melody-infused, raw, unforgiving thrash metal, void of unnecessary technicality and frills. While supporting their debut EP along the West Coast over the past two years, the band managed to concoct another wave of deadly tracks, upping the ante of destruction even further on their upcoming sophomore EP release, ‘Paralysis Rise’.
Clocking in at just under twenty minutes, the seven new songs that comprise Wilderness Dream’s new assault retain the same intensity and urgency that characterized the band’s debut, while boasting similar misanthropic, nihilistic lyrical content. However, the listener will quickly notice that the band has eliminated most remaining melodies and lingering punk influences and replaced them with a doubled-down violent dose of dissonant, razor-sharp riffs, and unpredictable, chaotic song structures. Tracks like “Spiritual Predator” and “The Observer” see the band at their most blistering speeds yet, thundering through every chainsaw-driven riff and tortured lyric without looking back, leaving the listener zero time to take a breath. At the same time, songs like “Venom,” “Ghosts,” and “No Light” see Wilderness Dream bringing the tempos down to more stomping, punishing grooves, rounding out the EP with numerous unique and refreshing moments of sonic domination.
