Style: Progressive Metal (mixed vocals)
Review by: Will
Country: US-CO
Release date: 10 September 2021
I’m not going to lie: I picked up this album in a fit of egomania because my name is William. I am William reviewing We are William by We Are William. And I’m really glad I did.
A lot has been made of the Colorado-based four-piece band online. They introduce themselves as a musical collective which aims to spurn egoism and identity and create music as a collective whole. Indeed, their Bandcamp credits all writing and production to the group We Are William rather than individual band members (not dissimilar to when Ghost had its songs credited to Nameless Ghouls).
The band’s website mentions (slightly mysteriously) the group’s “eclectic approach to songwriting” which help them combine their very disparate musical inspirations (from The Contortionist to System of a Down) into “a fresh, cohesive and unique take on progressive metal”.
What’s clear is that, whatever their approach to songwriting may be, the results are pretty special: This self-titled album is an intriguing mix of crunchy guitars, keyboard intros and some pretty sick vocals. Throughout, the incredible musicianship of all members of the band is easy to hear.
“Sun Eater” is a fantastic opening track and manages to deliver everything I like about We are William at once. Opening with a techno-flavoured keyboard loop, adding some building and menacing drums before the guitars explode onto the scene. The music flows from minor to major, from crushing heaviness to introspective calm and back again without feeling choppy or forced. The vocals are dramatic and serve as the emotional core of the music.
There’s a lot to say about the vocals throughout the album. Not least the incredible range and styles: Sometimes utilizing some of Serj Tankian’s vocal tricks of singing one note in the coda an octave higher than in previous iterations for emphasis. There’s some major scale use that feels very David Draiman of Disturbed. The harsher vocals have a much more Rob Flynn of Machine Head flavour to them and there’s screams and growls that are more metalcore à la Sylosis. This is the best example of We are William fulfilling their aim to take different styles and influences into the mix, even throw in some voice modification in the production and make it sound good.
Managing to stick the landing with lots of different vocal styles is no mean feat. We are William manages it by using highly emotive lyrics throughout that mirror the changing vocal styles. In this album they touch on themes of faith, love, betrayal, death and suicide. The changing vocal styles and the dynamics of the band through their songs allow them to deal with this subject matter with a real sense of authenticity.
We Are William are certainly successful in bringing together their very disparate influences but there’s an extent to which having their influences so prominent in their mind is a double-edged sword: Listening through these songs I experienced waves of nostalgia. I think to myself: here’s a bit that sounds like System of a Down; these vocals really remind me of Machine Head; this guitar part feels like The Contortionist and so on. But, amongst those different sounds, I struggle to find something that sounds uniquely We are William. In fact, I felt more like I wanted to go back and listen to those bands than play more We Are William.
I don’t think this is an insurmountable challenge for a band so obviously talented. With work refining their sound and working to find something that is uniquely them, I’m sure they’ll go on to be big. I’d happily buy my tickets now to watch them tour their next album in anticipation. Though this was an album I definitely enjoyed, I have a suspicion that it will be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of album as it certainly takes a bit of adjustment to listen to so many different styles of metal played next to each other. In fact, I struggled to give a “You may also like…” recommendation for this band; though they sound like lots of other bands out there, all squashed together, I’m hard pressed to find bands that sound quite like them.
I would certainly recommend giving this album a spin, though. We are William is very upfront about its 00s-10s metal influences and, if that’s your speed, then this’ll be a treat of an album for you.
Recommended tracks: Sun Eater, Oceanic
Recommended for fans of: Serj Tankian, Disturbed, Sylosis, Machine Head, The Contortionist
You may also like: Arise in Stability
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Label: Independent
We Are William are:
Max Knaver (Bass, Mix and Master)
Cameron Johnston (Guitar and Vocals)
Mack Barrow (Drums)
Sebastian Lawrence (Vocals)
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