Windwaker’s new record Hyperviolence starts off with Infinity, which starts with a beautiful pop synth over the top of a pretty subtle guitar riff, the synth being the main harmony that acts as the backbone of the song.
The tune covers fairly similar territory when it comes to the band, leaning more into their more pop sound. It’s not a super high energy song, but it does give you a nice moment to take it in before the album starts kicking you in the face with singles SIRENS and Fractured State of Mind.
HYPERVIOLENCE also sees the band doing some cool new stuff with the hyper-pop infused Break the Rules. All the members really turning everything up to 11 here; drummer Chris Lalic going absolutely manic on the verses, guitarist Jesse Crofts and bassist Indey Salevstro forcing you to move on the breakdown, Connor Robins’ synth work adding so much texture to the already crazy song. If someone asked who Windwaker were, this really is the song to show them.
Later we see the band channel some trap influences with songs Haunting Me and Venom. Haunting Me acting more of a pallet cleanser but also has some of the strongest melodies in the tracklist as Guinane sings “without you I am nobody, but you just keep haunting me”. This song is short and sweet coming in at only two minutes, but that’s why it’s so effective and will be stuck in your head for weeks to come.
With Venom we see the pace picked back up with, what I think, is one of the bands strongest songs to date. To say this track is rap centric would kind of be doing it a disservice, as this tune sees the band taking us on a roller coaster sonically and structurally. The bridge goes into somewhat bluesy style that we haven’t heard from them before, then ending the tune with a brutally low breakdown from Crofts and the gnarliest scream I think I’ve heard from Guinane yet.
HYPERVIOLENCE not only feels like a continuation of what Windwaker were doing on Love Language, but it sees them expanding on it even further. Proving to everyone that they really are something special to witness, never remaining stagnant and keeping listeners on their toes. Windwaker really are one of the best one’s doing it in the scene right now, and this record only proves that.
8. 5/10
HYPERVIOLENCE is out now through Fearless Records