Wolf Shaped Clouds - Oaken Split

01. Wolf Shaped Clouds - Word By Word & SkeletonsIn Band T-Shirts
02. Oaken - The Hunter

This split gives us two songs from Wolf Shaped Clouds and one from Oaken, to be released on cd. If you're at all familiar with Wolf Shaped Clouds, then these songs won't be too surprising, as they continue in the fast heavy style that the band has created. It seems as if the vocals are more than a little screamo influenced, while the music is heavy and sometimes melodic hardcore. There's a cool grime to this recording. It's not bad by any means, the vocals are clear, and each instrument is solid and distinguishable, while maintaining a raw fuzzy quality that is really great. When 'Skeletons In Band T-Shirts' drops down to the clean passage at the end it's a fantastic dynamic shift that ends their contribution perfectly. The Oaken offering to this split is on ten and a half minute song that is introduced with a spoken word sample. This gives way to a heavier screamed passage that mixes not-too-fast hardcore with a crusty influence. This soon shifts moods into a softer section that climbs to reverb heavy post rock intensity before shifting back into a theme similar to the opening. It can be difficult to maintain a listener's interest in a song this long, though Oaken manage to do it with the hunter, expertly shifting tempos and moods to create an interesting blend of crust, post-rock, screamo, and hardcore.

Reviewed by Justin.

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