Will Haven have always been a band that have a simplistic yet impacting sound, but at the same defy the logic of being pigeon holed into any particularly sub-genre within metal. Unfairly lumped in with the nu-metal crowd upon their inception they managed to break free of that particular passing fad and have stood on their own terms ever since. Thankfully nothing has changed with the release of their new EP ‘Open Your Mind To Discomfort’.

Following a tumultuous few years which saw several line-up changes, singer Grady Avenell leaving and re-joining and the addition of Slipknot bassist Chris Fehn to the ranks, Will Haven released ‘Voir Dier’ which was arguably their best album for 10 years. It went someway to re-capturing the murderous sound of their late 90’s releases that had made the underground sit up and take note of the band in the first place.

The release of ‘Open Your Mind To Discomfort’ doesn’t see Will Haven trying to re-capture their sound; it has been well and truly re-captured with even more malice and abject terror being strangled out of their trademark sound. Built of five tracks, around which tension increasing intros are intertwined, this is undoubtedly the finest cut from the band since 1997’s ‘El Diablo’.

‘Hermit’ is the undoubted highlight of the set with its depth-charge riff and a vocal that you’d describe as strained even for someone with the capability of Grady Avenell. Clawing at your face from the off, it goes from punch to the face to slowed down menace at will, amid a base layer of blood-curdling atmospherics. Will Haven were once described as making “music to find someone hanging to” and for anyone who didn’t understand that particular sentiment at the time, one spin of ‘Hermit’ will soon reveal the full extent of that particular idea.

It seems strange to be using negative words like uncomfortable, murderous and horrific for a work as undoubtedly brilliant as ‘Open The Mind To Discomfort’, and really the title sums it up perfectly, but as fans of the band will tell you, those are the sentiments that Will Haven are all about.

4/5

’Open The Mind To Discomfort’ by Will Haven is out now on Artery Recordings.

Will Haven links: Facebook|Twitter

Words by Rob Fearnley.