If you listen closely, you can hear the head on Rick Contini’s bass drum shiver during the hits that kick off UK rockers Wiht’s self-titled, self-released debut EP, as if to signify the natural feel that will permeate the three tracks to come. The Leeds trio have only been around for about a year, starting in April 2009, but their first output – which they call an EP, but actually stretches over 40 minutes – already shows them with a considerable grasp on their sound, an organic vibe, and the patience to let parts breathe as much as necessary to lock into a hazy, near-psychedelic hypnosis.

Production wise, Wiht sounds like it was recorded onto a computer in a room with a low ceiling. Whether or not that’s the case, I don’t know, but the stone-happy grooves are carried across smoothly either way, so though that might come off as a dig on the recording job, it’s really not. It’s a wonder of the modern age that a band like Wiht can go into a studio on the cheap and come out with a clear, crisp recording. 15 years ago, they’d be doing this in the garage on a four-track, and probably poorly. Their EP might not have the professional sheen it would from a major studio, but I think it works for their sound and where their songs go, drifting into and out of long psych/drone passages only to envelop the listener in heaviness again as does the raucous 16-minute opener “Into Ruin.”

Some stoner rockers come to it from punk, but there’s a heavier, more metallic edge to Wiht’s output that you can hear in the guitar work of Chris Wayper. With the entirety of Wiht instrumental, it’s the guitars that usually take the lead, and as “Into Ruin” passes its halfway point and comes to an angular, crushing movement, it’s metal, not punk, that seems the dominant influence. Almost the last five minutes of the song are just Wayper’s guitar with well-placed accents from bassist Joe Hall, but the atmosphere is darker than it was at the beginning of the track, which serves as a suitable lead-in for “And the Thunder Rolls.” The second song, it’s shorter by seven minutes, and starts faster, with Contini’s crash cymbal deep back in the mix and compressed, and Hall’s bass a fuzzy undertone for Wayper’s riffing. Wiht are quick to show of their dynamics, and though I think that given a more professional production setting it could be brought out even more, the character of this material is plain to hear and makes for an enjoyable listen nonetheless. It’s not that something is missing, understand, but as Wayper takes an airy solo midway through “And the Thunder Rolls,” I can’t help but feel there could be less separation among the instruments, and the bass could be higher, and so forth.

However, if the idea is for a first release to give an impression – to act as a demonstration – of what the band is all about, Wiht does this and more. “And the Thunder Rolls” ends with even more chaos than it had coming in, some double bass from Contini a surprise, and 16:26 closer “Vasta” caps off the release with a barrage of hits that lead into the most directly Sleep-esque moment of Wiht, though you could just as easily tie it to Sabbath. Wayper, Hall and Contini are lockstep in a groove, to which Wayper adds washes of delay and what may or may not be echoplex, and they keep it up for a couple minutes, adding and subtracting from it but staying focused on that central riff, until nearly everything drops out and has to slowly return again. A mounting tension is played out on Contini’s toms, leading eventually to a faster, heavier, start-stop movement echoing the hits that began the song.

Then comes — yes, ladies and gentlemen — the Slayer part. In a twist the likes of which could make M. Night Shyamalan hang his head in shame, Wiht follow a long ambient passage with a transposed version of the opening riff to Slayer’s classic “Seasons in the Abyss.” They don’t even have to slow it down that much. Tucked away in the last minutes of “Vasta” and thus Wiht itself, it feels like a bonus, a little, “Hey, thanks for listening, let’s have some fun,” that makes the whole thing come together. They gradually take the riff apart, leaving effect echoes and swirls to cap off the EP, but it was a welcome addition all the same. If nothing else, it was confirmation of the expansive range Wiht had been showing all along, and if their first outing has done anything, it’s made me glad I put them on the radar in the first place. There’s still work to be done, but for having only been together a year, Wiht’s beginnings are anything but humble.

Wiht on MySpace

Tags: Leeds, UK, Unsigned bands, Wiht

This entry was posted on Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 10:20 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.