Children of Wrath are a death metal band with various other elements hailing from the US of A. This project first emerged on YouTube in short promising clips, I was never really able to find out more until Nosral Recordings acquired the band recently for the 2017 debut album No Flesh Spared. Children of Wrath, like other bands on Nosral Recordings are one man bands, with its sole member being revealed as someone with seemingly no history in the metal scene: Luke Dinan. Oddly enough Dinan has a history in genres contrary to metal, like pop rock, so it is interesting to see how this plays out.
I had first heard this band on YouTube, if I had heard of the pop rock involvement before hearing the band – I’d assume Children of Wrath would be metalcore. However, there is no metalcore or pop rock influence. Instead the songs are primarily death metal, with a number of other influences, from symphonic to blackened death metal. The production is pretty tight for an underground band and all independently done by Dinan. The guitar work is fairly simple, working harmoniously with keyboard/synth programming or keyboard. The drums are programmed but done tastefully to the point of sounding authentic. In a lot of songs synths take on the lead role and guide the melody, guitars mainly fulfill the rhythm – with no solo work and only the occasional lead riff. Guitar tone is not ideal but isn’t bad either for its purpose. Bass guitar seems to play only a small role, but it could be more defined. The vocal work is well done, with a decent range between highs and lows. When it comes to song structure, a lot of this is written maturely – each song is distinct and bears character. There is some repetition and the odd thing that doesn’t fit but this album holds together like a sturdy boat that is not going to sink soon.
All in all Children of Wrath pushes the envelope for the underground scene and will most probably not remain underground for much longer.
I would give this album 70 out of 100.