When Dallas-Toler Wade announced his departure from Nile earlier this year, he mentioned that his side project Narcotic Wasteland will be his top focus. True to his words, Narcotic Wasteland are slated to release a follow up to their eponymous debut album on October 13th titled ‘Delirium Tremens’ via Megaforce Records/MRI. While their debut was quite a low-key affair, the follow up is definitely making waves with a recently released lyric video for the track “Faces of Meth” from the album.
Talking about Narcotic Wasteland’s debut, Wade had mentioned in one of his earlier interviews that although the sound of the band will have apparent similarities with Nile, it is primarily influenced from the style he used before joining Nile. On ‘Delirium Tremens’ too, the band continues that style, almost undeviated. The production however, is slightly more polished when compared to their previous album. Especially, Phil Cancilla’s relentless and frantic drum parts are thrust to the forefront and sounds crispier than before. Thematically, although ‘Delirium Tremens’ treads on a similar path as its predecessor and keeps death and drug addiction as its main theme, it also takes on other topics like introspection and huge pharmaceutical companies selling their souls for profit. The album art too gives an indication about this with a sinister, rotting caduceus amidst a nightmarish, rusty background.
Narcotic Wasteland does a phenomenal job in delivering a sound that perfectly personifies the theme of the album. For instance, the sheer pace and the frantic opening moments of the title track accurately captures the symptoms during Delirium Tremens (DTs), which is the medical term for the rapid onset of confusion as a consequence of withdrawal symptoms from alcohol. The melodic guitar lines during the chorus and the solo kind of highlights the darker moments of emotional struggle and paranoia during DTs. Similarly the album opener “Introspective Nightmares” will kick your teeth back in with its super aggressive riffage and relentless drum attack. However, what really makes the band stand out is when the melodic guitar lines woven by Ed Rhone and Dallas-Toler Wade come onto the forefront, whether it is during the solos or just one of those moments when both of them combine forces on a harmony. The end result is a great amalgamation of Death Metal belligerence with melodic and progressive elements, thereby combining the best of both worlds in their songwriting. Take “You Will Die Alone” or “Husk” as examples. Both of these tracks have phenomenal rhythm sections that will demand your unwavering attention. Phil’s work behind the kit too is relentless, precise and thoroughly entertaining. On “Return to the Underground”, Phil’s unrelenting double bass lasts almost through the entirety of the track, mirroring the buzz saw Death metal riffage perfectly. Alternating between a fluttering tremolo attack and a groove laden rhythm section for most of the length of the track, it surprises you with a quirky tempo change during the last 30 seconds of the track that will definitely put a smile on your face.
The album is not a one way traffic of Death Metal belligerence. “In Memoriam” and “Self Immolation”, are two short instrumentals that amplify the darker, melancholic undertones of the album. Both these tracks, although are short fillers, but they instantly connect with the listener and thrust them into the headspace of Delirium Tremens.
The album stands at a precise 46 minutes and greatly enhance the listening experience after multiple spins. ‘Delirium Tremens’ surpasses the band’s debut effort easily. They sound like an evolved unit, tighter than ever and relentless as hell. Lyrically, the songs sometimes come off a bit cheesy but it is a minor flaw which does not really come in the way of listening to this album.
To summarize, Narcotic Wasteland have released a fantastic album in ‘Delirium Tremens’. It is not easy to thrust the listener consistently into an aural landscape orchestrated by the band and make them stay put for the entire length of the album. Narcotic Wasteland does it brilliantly as they take you through the nightmarish journey of Delirium Tremens.
