Warcoe – The Giant’s Dream

Warcore are a power-trio consisting of Carlo (bass), Francesco (drums) and Stefano (guitars & vocals). The band arrives from Pesaro, Italy, and they’ve been together for just about two years now. Their debut full-length is entitled The Giant’s Dream.

In the last couple of days I’ve been listening to some old live recordings of Black Sabbath, 1976, Live at Syracuse, NY and 1980’s Tokyo Heaven. Why is it relevant mentioning here? Because it is not every day that you hear a band that sounds more or less exactly like mighty Black Sabbath, esp. the aforementioned band’s 1976 Ozzy Osbourne-era. I know, big shoes to fill, but Warcoe isn’t really doin’ anything to hide their musical influnces, which apart from Black Sabbath, also counts the likes of Pentagram, Acid Bath, and similar old-school, scene early psychedelic and doom metal acts.

Now back to The Giant’s Dream. The album contains eight tracks, where the self-titled track is album’s first cut. It’s already here where Blackk Sabbath inspirations come in, where they in the opening bio talk about Black Sabbath references, and now where you can actually hear it. Even the vocals of Stefano are very reminiscent of those of Mr. Double O. Apart from these obvious old-school references, Warcore actually does add a personal touch to more or less all eight tracks, at least trying to create their style, while still giving credits to the aforementioned scene giants. Each of the eights songs is actually a different listening experience, some more accessible than others, some being more approachable already after the initial listening, while others need a few extra spins in your stereo.

Now back to the this new album again, “Cats Will Follow” is the second track from The Giant’s Dream. It’s a bit slower and more lumbering song, at least compared to some of the tracks that follow. It still has a great amount of their traditional doom, but also incorporating a few faster elements, esp. a few semi-energetic riffs. “Omega Sunrise” is a shorter song with acoustic guitars but still predominantly bleak and doom. It applies to these two songs, as for the rest of the album, it’s pretty much the vibe and atmosphere of the early 70s, with a lots of groovy, psychedelic and dark & doomish influences. The next track is called “Fire and Snow”, being a bit groovier yet with this almost mysterious addictive and dark main riff. “Winternaut” is even slower and darker, with sounds of molten lava while following a journey out of the volcano. “Thieves, Heretics, and Whores” on another hand is a smooth and groovy number with additional trademark doomish elements. “Scars Will Remain” is another mainly slow track with yet again very close Black Sabbath references, with slightly different riffing and ending than what I was expecting. The closing one is entitled “Church Of Void”, being again a solid track, but yet very simplisticly constructed and predictable build-up. Some would even argue that this sometimes simplistic and copy-paste BS style is their biggest strength, because it’s an incredibly easy album to listen to. The production captures the right vibe of the early doom/heavy metal of the 70s. I also like the fact that all lyrics are printed inside in the booklet. On a less positive note I’ll just say that it sometimes is too predictable, offering a very few surprises. I wish, that this obviously talented trio, would explore even more of their own personality, work to improve their song-writing skills a bit further, because I believe they’re very talented and it’s a shame if they get labelled as just another Black Sabbath copy/paste band.

To get a further idea what Warcoe anno 2022 sound slike I’ve included their first single from The Giant’s Dream. Take a listen and judge for yourself!

For further info on this particular release visit https://warcoe.bandcamp.com/album/the-giants-dream