I love A Wilhelm Scream and there is enough in this short collection of tracks to keep any Wilhelm Scream fan happy – hell, some of these songs are the best songs more popular bands have never written. Such is the level of AWS’s output that even when they’re treading water, such as on this stop gap release, they are usually still above the rest of the pack.
The trouble is for me, they are treading water here. There isn’t a single track on offer here to touch their previous material, or hold my attention for long enough. Everytime I’ve put this EP on I’ve started thinking about Career Suicide, Mute Print and Ruiner. Inevitably I’ve then put one of those records on. The production isn’t as clean as on any of those albums – its sounds dirty and rushed, and whilst that might some bands in the genre, it’s detrimental to AWS’s bells, whistles and dual lead guitar sounds.
In any case, some of these songs are still pretty good, and existing fans of the band will lap up this 5 tracker. Those who are curious should start with any of the albums first.
Kieran