review: Wreche -- black metal with piano, and no guitars

Wreche: All My Dreams Came True Handsmade Records 14 May 2021

If you find yourself walking in the city of Oakland, California, USA, and you happen to hear the sound of piano, there in the street or in the park, there for the pleasure of anyone wishing to pause and listen, you might be hearing the work of pianist and composer John Steven Morgan. JSM plays traditional piano music. He also has been challenging himself through a black metal project called Wreche that in 2017 issued its self-titled debut and now presents its sophomore work.

The opening song “Mysterium” is black metal, but it sounds different, too. The percussive and vocal patterns are not what’s different, that’s the normal lunar howling in a fast context. What might really catch the fanatic’s ear is the tremolo sounds. It is not guitar. It is piano. Wreche is black metal without guitars.

Percussion (sampled drumming?), synths, deranged shrieking, and piano is the vehicle for this adventure. The music is just as deranged as normal black metal, but more somber because it does not have the harsher sound of the guitar. The piano is just much better suited for grandiose heaviness and a certain elegance than thrashing guitars. It is less melodic because the piano in general cannot reach the heights of the sweet sounds available on guitar, although, of course, with the piano on here, the listener cannot but help associate it classical music in general.

Wreche is more like an alienated, depressed, angry pianist that loves the unhinged, maniacal energy of black metal. Wreche sounds like some sort of ferocious piano therapy session. This is for people that want to try something different. A novelty. Something a bit strange, and also with some hidden beauty. Something off the map. Are you curious?

All my dreams came true by Wreche

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