Reviewing EP’s can sometimes be beneficial in that 1, it’s less time consuming with a shorter amount of tracks to get through and 2, that it’s a nice little sampler to get into the band. Recently coming across my radar was this UK metal act called My Wooden Pillow which the name alone grabbed my attention but after quickly sinking into each song, there was a uniqueness in it’s hybrid quality that hooked me right in.
Starting off with a thrashy tempo in the opening track “Vein Of Affliction“, one would assume the nature of the band given it’s fairly unsuspiciously heavy lead in to the EP. But things take a quick turn as the vocals form a more cleaner, melodic tone and the music switches from traditional heavy metal to a modern rock sound. Throwing in some harsh black metal-like vocals does throw you into a spin and it’s mighty difficult to pinpoint just what the band are about musically speaking but it’s the diversity of it all that makes it stand out.
That diversity continues through-out the EP but weirdly enough it’s something you get used to real quick as if it it makes sense in a way. The band have stated that they want to to “push our sonic boundaries to new levels of musical understanding and explore further the field of our perception“, and clearly they aim to do that here. Mixed in with all the different sub-genres of metal and some modern but melodic rock overtones is a real punk attitude in the overall vibe of their music. The riffs have an old school flavor to it with a bit of Scandinavian melodic metal influences while the vocals brilliantly blend clean and harsh singing in a way that strays maybe a little away from the all too popular styles we see in modern metal today. It’s a melting pot of different influences but somehow it works very well here.
“Nature’s Sin” is one of the highlights on offer here where it keeps you guessing right until the end. Thrashy black metal-esque parts that slide into melodic rock as if the two styles were always meant to be together is a pretty clever way of mixing things up and it’s not an easy thing to do either. There’s a real audacity about that which makes those transitions seamless.
The title track is the most straight up rocker here and while it does offer those Scandinavian metal influences in parts, it’s full of memorable moments and some real tasty guitar licks too. The little breakdown towards the end is also a nice little unexpected bonus too and that’s almost the epitome of what My Wooden Pillow are about in essence. “Hidden” gives the listener something interesting, unique but palatable at the same time and that’s a pretty rare thing these days.
8/10
TRACKLIST
Vein Of Affliction
Revolution Of Tears
Nature’s Sin
Hidden
Collateral