Review: The Death Wheelers ‘Ecstasy Of Möld’
Do you hear that unearthly rumble coming from the frozen north of Canada? It can only mean that The Death Wheelers, Québec’s purveyors of grimy, heavy, instrumental, soundtracks to imaginary, seventies-biker, cult, exploitation films have returned and are heading your way.
I had the pleasure of riding along with the vagabonds on 2023’s Chaos And The Art Of Motorcycle Madness and I was pleasantly surprised to see the band return in such quick fashion with their latest ‘soundtrack’, Ecstasy Of Möld.
The idea behind the band’s approach is all at once awesome, crushing and, if I’m being honest, kind of hilarious, as they deftly craft rumbling, heavy and diverse, stoner metal that’s covered in biker filth to score their imaginary films. However, there’s nothing hilarious about their sonics as this is top-notch stoner metal performed with a deadly seriousness.
Throwing some headphones on, I eagerly hit ‘play’ and was right back on the highway with The Death Wheelers as the album opens with Loud Pipes Take Lives as a sample from 1983’s Mad Max-ish Warriors Of The Wasteland gives way to some nice, quasi-melodic chugging riffage, before all hell literally breaks loose with the guts-churning, Entombed-style, low-end madness of Homicidal Maniacs.
Now, this is what I’m talking about, filth-drenched, biker, stoner-metal that kicks you right in the face, but with enough musical diversity in the proceedings to keep things interesting. Hella Hammered eases up on the throttle, if only just a little, as it’s a bit of a mid-paced basher, with some spacey noodling thrown in for good measure. Things get weird, as we ride the barren, cloudy highway straight into the unknown with the amazing Un Pneu Dans La Tombe – Aide Musicale À Mourir, which definitely feels like taking a literal musical journey.
The track starts with some trippy, distant guitar action, that flows into some driving riffage as it builds, taking many twists and turns before its epic ending, which is like the stoner biker-metal equivalent of riding straight to the gates of hell. Up next is the pulverizing title track The Ecstasy Of Möld, which is stuffed to the gills with wah-drenched shred, charging d-beat drumming and an un-godly Motörhead-worthy bass roar, courtesy of founder Max ‘The Axe’ Tremblay that would undoubtedly make Mr. Kilmister himself proud.
filth-drenched, biker, stoner-metal that kicks you right in the face…
Hitting the back half of the record, the amazingly-titled Blood, Bikes And Barbiturates features all sorts of build, push and pull, including echo-y, space-y introspective guitar, that’s followed by a riff-heavy kick to the teeth and back again as The Death Wheelers suck you into their ripping aural vortex of which you may never escape. Bleu Nuit (Les Plaisirs De La Chair) takes a cool left turn into ‘70s boogie-funk with some fantastic guitar interplay between Sy ‘Wild Rye’ Tremblay and Hugo ‘Red Beard’ Bertacchi and all sorts of low-end, rhythmic groove.
Way Of The Road takes the listener into the proverbial final arc boasting an unstoppable main riff, that’s complemented by more fuzzed-up, wah-drenched madness and a sense that the end is near. The penultimate The Heretic Rites Of Count Choppula, also a fantastic title, is a trippy, head-nodder weirdo track that features some stellar surf-style guitar before they open their sonic portal to ‘70s biker-movie hell with a colossal riff breakdown that fades out into the distance. As the imaginary credits roll, closer Get Laid… To Rest, which begins life as an epic chugger, before descending into a spacey, surf-y outro as the sun sets on The Death Wheelers aural highway.
As with previous releases, the album is packed with samples from cult B movie films adding to the entire aura of a low-budget film score. I’ve come to really enjoy this band as their whole aesthetic is fun, creative and original, but I’m not sure it would work as well if these musicians were not as stellar as they are.
I’ve sometimes imagined what having a singer would do to their sound, but like the much-missed Karma To Burn (RIP Will Mecum), it’s probably best not fix what isn’t broken. Ecstasy Of Möld is most certainly a fantastic addition to The Death Wheelers discography and I’ll have my ears open for their next ‘soundtrack’. Recommended.
Label: RidingEasy Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Martin Williams
