Metal has always existed as an aesthetic portal into the depths of hell, but in their modern iterations, subgenres like black metal and death metal have been increasingly apt vessels for communicating certain everyday hells-on-Earth. At only six tracks, the self-titled debut EP from Chicago’s Wretched Blessing does plenty to round up several of those widespread evils into under 20 minutes of clamorous riffing and growled vocals as they cover themes ranging from the infuriating shortcomings of the American healthcare system, the increasingly normalized genocide in Gaza, the unsolicited opinions of the chronically online, and the needlessly competitive nature of the music industry.
Blending black and death metal, the band—made up of guitarist/co-vocalist Kayhan Vaziri and drummer/co-vocalist Rae Amitay—has a combined resume that lists modern metal greats including Yautja, Coliseum, and Immortal Bird among their work outside of the new project. Yet the music they create together sees them bringing the familiar sounds of these acts to experimental new lanes which, by their own account, reference a widely varying set of influences including Integrity, Lungfish, Celtic Frost, and The Jesus Lizard. Oh, and a Spy Kids sequel.
With the EP officially dropping tomorrow, check out Vaziri and Amitay’s track-by-track breakdown of Wretched Blessing below along with an early stream of the project. In Vaziri’s words, “pack a bowl, settle in with your cat, [and] crack open a can of Wild Cherry Pepsi” before hitting play.
1. “Incubation”
Kayhan Vaziri: This is the primer track for the record. It’s an aural palate cleanser of sorts, and gives you a minute to prepare anything you may need before the EP takes off—pack a bowl, settle in with your cat, crack open a can of Wild Cherry Pepsi (not sponsored), etc. Musically, I would call this a Lungfish-style idea.
Rae Amitay: When we played our first show, we thought it’d be cool to start our set with a version of “Incubation” (we hadn’t recorded it yet) so that people who had never heard us (i.e. everyone) would spend a full minute wondering, “Is this what Wretched Blessing sounds like?” before we went into death/black-metal mode.
2. “Spurious Ovation”
KV: This is the first song we wrote together. I think this is the only one that came from us just jamming in the practice space—not coming in with any riffs/ideas/parts. We chose to share this one before the EP came out because it has a little bit of everything style-wise, and gives you a good sampling of what’s to come.
RA: This one is coming from a place of desperate contempt and irritation, like shaking someone by the shoulders who you wish you didn’t have to touch at all. It opens with the line, “You will regret all of this time / Wasted / Watching others living” and gets progressively more frustrated with disingenuous and “chronically online” behavior and people from there.
3. “Pseudoascension”
KV: Lyrically, this one references personal mental health struggles and is written from our two perspectives on the same experience. It’s a commentary on the state of disarray of the American healthcare industry—more specifically, this country’s mental health services. Weaponized incompetence at its finest. Musically, I’ve had the opening/verse riff and the chorus part kicking around in my head for a while and always planned to use it for a heavy D-beat band but it fits perfectly here! The faster riff into the ending that Rae wrote reminds me of Celtic Frost.
RA: This one is heavy lyrically, but very high-energy and fun to perform. I think anyone who’s ever spent time (voluntarily or otherwise) in a psychiatric hospital, or who’s unsuccessfully sought treatment for mental illness, will recognize how getting “help” in a broken and often intentionally cruel system can feel like a massive step backward. “There is a darkness worse than the hole that you’ve dug yourself.” All that said, I still vouch for 988/waiting it out.
4. “Here on Earth?”
RA: I was a massive fan of the original Spy Kids film (it absolutely still holds up), but by the time the sequel came out in 2002, I had probably been jaded by 9/11 (just kidding) and wasn’t interested in it. Years later, I heard the Steve Buscemi quote out of context and was like, “When did he say that?” Turns out, it was Spy Kids 2. The whole movie isn’t quite the perfect blend of kid/adult/family humor like its predecessor, but it does have Steve.
KV: Deeply dark and existential sample for a kid’s movie. Rae came up with the idea and we put this interlude together at home the week after we finished tracking with Pete [Grossmann].
5. “Anathematic”
KV: Rae wrote the main riffs in this one. Something about it reminds me of Florida death metal, but then the variation at the end almost has a noise rock/Jesus Lizard feel to it. It’s pretty explicitly about the escalating violence and ensuing genocide against the people of Palestine.
RA: Kayhan and I are both outspoken about certain political/social issues in our personal lives, as well as in our music (ACAB forever, even your dad)—but in terms of the latter I’ve never written a song like this. Zionism is a widespread force that has people “trained to nurse a borrowed grudge from foreign shores” via religious collaboration and constant propaganda to the point where they’re closed off to basic tenets of humanity and reason. The fascism and violence in Gaza and against Palestinians is beyond any excuse, but I think the US and other occupiers will continue to do everything in their power to quell resistance. The first and last lines of the song are the same: “There does not exist enough blood to drown all of us out.”
Here it is in Palestinian Arabic: لا يوجد ما يكفي من الدم لإغراقنا جميعًا
6. “Mirror Vulture”
KV: Lyrically, this one deals with cronyism and the sort of feedback loop of disingenuous people and hierarchies in certain corners of the metal/music world. The same booking agents, the same bands, the same tours, the same venues, the same songs, etc. Using people as stepping stones and art as cannon fodder in a nasty industry. Musically, it kind of does a full arc from a stoner/doomy intro, into some war metal pounding/build-up, into a grindcore part, finishing with an almost metallic hardcore breakdown à la Integrity or Turmoil.
RA: Kayhan took the lead with music and lyrics, and I really like the dynamics of this song. The war metal/drum build/crescendo is super fun to play, and I’m always a fan of a hard stop at the end of a song/album. This one was also the catalyst for a wholesome progress-montage moment, as my single-foot blasts got stronger and steadier the more we practiced, getting ready to record.
