Wo Fat and I go back a long ways. Some trivia for you before we dig in: my first ever Angry Metal Guy review was written in May of 2016, for the band’s Midnight Cometh album. But, dear readers, I hear you saying “Huckster, we never saw said review.” This is true. By the time Steel Druhm and myself sorted things out, my fully-edited review was a few weeks too late to post. It probably sucked as well, but the album didn’t. It isn’t possible for these guys to suck, to be honest. And now here we are, six years to the month later, and I can finally review a Wo Fat album for you. The Singularity is the band’s seventh album, and they aim to pull out all the stops as they take their beautiful fuzzy doom to the next level.
“Orphans of the Singe” creeps into your ears slowly, a jam that takes its time in hypnotic fashion before finally resolving around a sinuous riff and splendid rhythm. Like most of the album it’s an extended trip down psychedelic wormholes, guitarist Kent Stump dropping riff after riff as the band lures us in and doesn’t let go. Opening with a fourteen-minute song is audacious but it sets expectations firmly. These jams are huge. Seven songs clocking in at seventy-six minutes is monstrous, but somehow so much fun. The Singularity is a long album, but never tedious. All three twelve-plus minute songs are so full of content that it makes each song a pleasure. It’s like listening to a psychedelic blues/doom/jazz version of ZZ Top.
Of course, the final track is the Pinnacle of the Jam. “The Oracle” is almost seventeen glorious minutes of freeform psych rock, and to hell with vocals. Although Stump has a voice perfectly suited to the music, on “The Oracle” the instruments do the talking. If someone said “Huck, pick your favorite long jam” it just might be this puppy. Even the shorter songs have a spontaneous feel to them. And by shorter I mean seven to eight minutes long. Both the title track and “The Unraveling” kick our ass, with the latter being a full-throttle blues rocker that once again evokes the mighty ZZ Top. “The Singularity” has an arena-ready riff opening things up before the song jackhammers us into submission. A minute in when it suddenly becomes a blazing rocker gives you the same feeling as when you’re leaning back in your chair and almost tip over, but just catch yourself.
“The Snows of Banquo IV” has a huge riff that just keeps slamming you on the top of the head over and over. “The Witching Chamber” features a super earworm of a bass line near the end, and I wish Wo Fat included more of these – there’s one midway through “The Oracle” as well which is awesome, but guitars dominate, which is understandable as Kent Stump plays guitar, sings, and produces. Still, with the length of this album there were plenty more chances for bassist Zack Busby and drummer Michael Walter to grab the spotlight. And not to be content with laying down multiple guitar tracks and lead vocals, Stump also produces The Singularity, and does a mighty fine job at that.
This has been a year where personally I have not had the desire to listen to long songs. So of course Wo Fat drop a monstrous seven-song, seventy-six-minute beast on my lap. But somehow, The Singularity is a blast to listen to, beginning to end. It’s long but never tedious, maybe because the riffs and solos just keep coming at you. The Singularity is a superb stoner jam from start to end, chock full of ideas and strong performances. I’m glad I finally got to review some Wo Fat here!
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Ripple Music
Websites: wofat.bandcamp.com | wofat.net | facebook.com/wofatriffage
Release Worldwide: May 6th, 2022
