It seems like there just aren’t enough grindcore bands coming out of the East Coast lately, or maybe I’m just being ignorant and not finding enough, which is why I was glad this one popped up on my radar. Wasp Mother is a trio based out the South Shore of Massachusetts doing the style with pure class.
Taking influence from both hardcore groups of the South Shore and Boston scenes as well as the classic grindcore and death metal influences, Wasp Mother's music strikes that perfect balance between the wickedness of grind and the dynamic moshability of hardcore punk. They don’t want to just play straightforward blast beats, they want to make people dance which is exactly what their forthcoming demo will provide.
The EP’s opening track, “Vertical Incisions,” starts off with a pummeling blast beat, a grindcore staple, as vocalist Kevin belts out his dread-filled lyrics: “Do you dream? / Are you scared to sleep? / Chained to the Earth by guilt / Begging for release / Let go.” Soon the track dives into a sludgy mid-section, a tease of the band's love for the genre before punching the gas pedal right to the floor again.
The track features a host of energy that should get the crowd jumping, crashing and beating the shit out of each other which is something I feel like grindcore isn’t doing enough of. With speed being the main focus of grindcore nowadays it’s hard for the crowd to really get a groove out of the music and can sometimes make for a tame crowd reaction… that’s not what Wasp Mother wants to do.
Wasp Mother has given No Echo readers an exclusive look at their forthcoming demo out tomorrow so be sure to click the link below for four tracks of blasting grindcore that also satisfies any hardcore kids desire to mosh around a room or a long haired kids hope for head banging. Check it out below:
The songwriting was concocted because of the band's hopes for crowd engagement. Pete explains, “When Kev and I were first writing songs we were like ‘we can only write so many blast beats before this starts to sound like the same thing. It’s cool and all but people typically chime out after six songs of straight blasts. People will just stand there with their arms folded.” As much fun as a blast beat affair is in the grindcore scene it doesn’t help the mosh pit too much when dancers have no groove to move to.
Made up of members Pete Walsh, Kevin S., and George Mutch who have played in multiple bands along the South Shore and Boston scenes, the band came together during the pandemic out of the reignited love for playing music and being part of the scene after the pandemic. It seems that just the joy of going to shows in the city or the surrounding areas has saved and revived the scene as kids and veterans of the scene are starting bands left and right. The scene is really starting to feel rejuvenated as it finds its footing once again.
Wasp Mother's influences, while taking from the grindcore realm also draw from hardcore and even mathcore bands. “When looking at musical influences I draw back to Converge, Pig Destroyer, Cult Leader, and See You Next Tuesday, they’re like one of the first bands I think of when it comes to grindcore because of the Parasite album as well as Intervals being such fast and violent music and they broke it down and made it so heavy,” explains Kevin when asked about his own musical influences for Wasp Mother. Boiling down their own music into both a fast and cataclysmic mixture of grindcore blast beats that keep hardcore moshing in mind.
Pete adds to the list of influences: “I went to the Decibel Metal and Beer Fest where Converge played Jane Doe in full, and Pig Destroyer played Prowler in the Yard as well. So that was pretty inspiring to see. Deadguy played as well. Also George’s influences ranged from like Neurosis and Botch to even Burnt By the Sun.”
The name Wasp Mother is even descriptive of the band's sound as they stated they wanted their music to sound like “A swarm of bees.” Guitarist Kevin adds, “When I wrote the first song on the demo, Vertical Incision, I was just thinking, ‘What do bees sound like?’” Though that isn’t the only reason the band went as Kevin continued, “It’s a complete juxtaposition of each other because when you think of a wasp nest you’d be afraid of it, at least I am, I don’t like bees. They suck. While a mother is something that’s supposed to give you warmth and love and comfort.”
The contrast between warmth and fear perfectly captures the essence of the band's music as they lure you in with the sounds of one genre then slap you across the face with the structure of another.
Wasp Mother's demo was recorded at Pete’s home recording studio which he calls Heavy Hangs studio. His studio is something he put together himself and with the gear he uses his recordings sound superb compared to many bands first demos, this studio is also where Ritual Blade recorded their Hate Overflows EP last year. Pete described the recording process stating, “We’d been practicing for a few weeks, we threw a couple parties to bring musicians we know over so we could see how a live audience would react to the songs. We had a dedicated vocalist back then but he had too much on his plate so Kevin took over.
"After like two months of practicing, we wanted to go in and record but Kevin and I had ordered these custom tubeheads from Dean Costello and his lead time was like 16 weeks so we had to wait on those but once we got in there it all went smoothly.”
With the release in their sights, Wasp Mother isn’t planning on playing a live show just yet but it will be in the cards in the near future as the members balance their lives with work and their families. No doubt having a release under their belt will not only benefit their establishment in the scene but satisfy their own love of being in a band and expressing themselves.
Wasp Mother would like to shoutout: Marco at Nomad Cabinets, Dean Costello amplifiers, Dunable guitars, Foul Sound guitar pedals, all the bands coming up in the scene right now, Boston Hardcore, the Dregs Light Show, Ritual Blade, Grasp, Morgued, Inhalement, Face First, Stagnater, Ancient Death, Matriphagy, Substantial Abuse, Swamphead, Mother Iron Horse, Leather Lung, Living Cursed, Teeth, and Last Sight.
Wasp Mother on social media: Bandcamp | Instagram
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