Endure. Humanity must. Beastwars IV does. When you’re able to tap into raw emotion, it’s not hard to even feel the passion and gift it to others. Matt Hyde and Beastwars does just that on this album. They tap raw emotion. These lyrics and riffs are some type of metaphysical experience.

Try it out here. Then buy it.

https://beastwars.bandcamp.com

From the beginning “Raise the Sword” has a tremendous line “Don’t Fall / Raise the Sword.” We cannot let others beat us down. We have to get up and raise the our sword. Life is too short to fuck with all that bullshit. The riff work is also inspiring. Beastwars are masters of dynamic range. They are able to ebb and flow and seamlessly capture the energy you would expect from so much emotion. I know I have already mentioned it above but the lyrics are otherworldly. “My sins have shaped me / My regrets visit regularly” fuck yeah they do. Your sins do shape you and you have to be tough enough to shake off those regrets but they will come back and you must learn how to harbor them when they show up. The entire passage “Search for the light / In the time of dying /Always try to be right /When you’ve only known wrong.” If we let darkness over take us it will. People may see us a bad people, but we are not. We are people who find an outlet we can do right even when have done wrong. We are so quick to write people off for mistakes, but we don’t see the good that came before.

The second track “Wolves and Prey” hit you right in the mouth. Hyde’s shouts, “Pray for Blood / First light of Sun” If we can approach this album like a story. (Reminder this is my interpretation not the band’s. If they are cool with it that cool too). So yeah, if this was a story this song would be a good follow up to the previous song. We raised the sword and now we are out for blood. It’s time to face life. Remember all that shit that surrounds doesn’t fucking matter. It’s noise. Chop that shit down. Get it out of the fucking way. Face it! Get out and Face it head on. If we give up they win. Most people go away when they are hit hard but you don’t have to.

Some said Sludge rock is often dark and pessimistic. I don’t believe it. I think it is an emotional state. Yeah we can be pessimistic about the world but we have to find hope in the smallest things. Yeah we can be shown fear in a handful of dust, but how do we find hope in dust or a wasteland for that matter? Hope! The third track is a powerful message hidden in a frame. “Storms of Mars,” is a song that captures the raw emotion I spoke on earlier. Just watch the in-studio video.

I can’t really get enough of this song. It’s currently my personal favorite on the album. The power of emotion is what draws me in. The guitar builds in the beginning. Let’s look at the simile real quick. Think of a sand storm, shit storm or whatever. A sand storm on Mars is unfathomable. We can’t go there and experience it but we know it’s bad we know we can’t live in the atmosphere. Could this song be about the environment? Yeah. I think you can read it that way. I think it’s about the fear of death and the unknown and our inability to control what comes. Vocalist, Matt Hyde’s recent bout with cancer drives the lyrics on the album and it more than prevalent on this song. I don’t want to speak on what Matt Hyde’s experience is because I have no fucking idea of what he had to go through. I think he is reaching toward something he can’t explain and as humans we can’t explain it. But what we all want to do is live. “Let Me Live / oh give me 10 more years.” We all have a reason to live for. We have a reason to keep going. Is it for your love of someone else’s? What matters most is those that are there for you. A Fucking Masterpiece at this point. But the one line that floors me is the “I want to be alive / To see my child grow.” Whether we are working with fiction or reality the pathos of the song happens right here.

We come full circle with the ending when he sings “Let Me Rise” it is a powerful way to tie everything together especially the first 3 songs. We are just getting started. We see the struggles in the next few songs. “Mortal Decay” is a struggle with religion and finding a place to stand in this world. We have to reconcile and find our place. Even if we are a devil’s child we have to find a way to keep going. This songs hits it right square on the head. We should “never give in to your [our] mortal decay.

“Omens” is a powerful banger here. It opens with a classic feedback lead in. Each verse leads to a strong chorus. “Empty House / at the foot of a hill / Gravel Road / to a Holy Mountain.” We have another journey or adventure songs. But we know about omens and they often come from the sky. What could the empty house represent? Loss? If we keep traveling this path we will eventually reach the peak of a “Holy Mountain?” A solid riff transition leads to the next verse. “Pyramid in the hills / Red sky / See her omens come alive / See it enter your mind.”

“See the sound / The sound you say / I see the noise / The noise that you gave” “Sound of the Grave” is THE song of struggle. being on the edge of giving up. “And nothing is better / Than being in the ground” but he doesn’t want to go. Others do not want him to go. “And I try for forgiveness / In the time of the damned.” These lyrics hit strong in we are all encompassed by the struggle to find peace when we constantly have the evil persona. In true faith, forgiveness will be there regardless of where we stand. This album will make you think about your past demons but know it’s the past and we strive and endure.

“The Traveller” is a track that reminds me of some good old fashion hardcore along the lines of Fugazi or The Jesus Lizard. The vocals and guitars grind throughout the song. A mellow beginning that is lead into more emotional vocal work by Hyde. The song really kicks in with a full fledged old school style. I could imagine seeing the riffs of they guys on stage and the ebb of the crowd in this one. “Time is but a dream / And the graveyard only nearer” These lyrics touch on the way life can be so precious and we take time and life for granted. When we are so close to death it is time to wake up. It is an excellent ode to hardcore and days gone by. This is track is important because it shows that these guys certainly have a range worth spending time on.

The final track “Like Dried Blood” is a brutal ballad. Piano lead in and strung throughout but done so beautifully. The vocals are once again tremendous in the fact that we have ravaged our way through this album and continued through everything and all was given to the listener. Like Dried Blood it is hard to wash away. What we need to do is remember the album as a testament to hard times over come.

The guys of Beastwars should be very proud of the work of art and fans should take a chance on this album. It will blow you away with how dense of a work it is. This has certainly been one of my favorite finds on my adventure. I cannot wait to immerse myself in their entire catalog. Make sure to look for the vinyl or cd. I purchased the vinyl through Shadebeast thanks to a post on r/doommetal and I got the blue version of the vinyl. I also purchased the cd through ebay and had it shipped to me from New Zealand. It came perfectly packaged and I’m I have both the CD and Vinyl. If you can’t find a hard copy of the album, check it out at bandcamp and through the guys a few extra bones.