Style: Industrial Rock, Gothic Rock, Clean Vocals
Recommended for fans of: Dorothy, Chelsea Wolfe, Nine Inch Nails
Country: Northern Ireland/Germany
Release date: 14 November 2025

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The wounded healer is one of Carl Jung’s archetypes, the idea that those who help others heal are, themselves, in need of healing. Preyrs embraces and explores this concept over the course of their new album, The Wounded Healer, acknowledging the hurt drawn from singer-songwriter Amy Montgomery’s past and the on-going traumas inflicted in the present day—from the barrage of horrors amplified by the 24/7 media cycle (“Zeros, Ones & Lies”) to the more individualized cuts of a world shifting under our feet (“Change Change”).

“Humble Eyes” is a very simple introduction to The Wounded Healer, starting with a beautiful, expansive soundscape behind Montgomery’s intense, lightly gritty vocals—a threatening sustain on the guitar followed by a drum that seems to be miles away yet fully encircling the listener. For only being roughly a minute and a half in length with five unique lines of lyrics, the track had me very excited for the rest of the album. 

“Wave of Wisdom” immediately pivots, however, giving us some individually plucked strings before the drums kick in much narrower and up close. These dramatic shifts in the mixing and soundscape continue over the course of The Wounded Healer, and while that switching back and forth expresses the give and take the wounded healer needs, it leaves the album on the whole feeling a touch disjointed. An inconsistency to the sound comes not from a demonstration of varied skill sets or genre expressions, but rather from what seems to be an uncertainty as to how personal Preyrs wants to be with their audience. Perhaps this is a meta-commentary and recognition that in their own journey to heal, arms length from their audience is a must to mitigate parasocial behavior, or just a conscious mixing choice, but it certainly takes me out of the experience when those tones shift so widely.

The sliding sense of scale isn’t helped by the straightforward nature of each song; the tracks that are most satisfying to physically engage with are the stomp-clamp vibes of “Life Is Kind” and the heavier, driving beats of “Crucify” fuel the only head-bang worthy track, but the album doesn’t feature much in the way of complex musical structure. Songs simply aren’t long enough to develop. “Nova” is the longest track, at four and a half minutes, but its outro begins before the song even hits the three minute mark, with ambient guitar and sporadic drum hits culminating in staticky, spoken word monologue. My preference for complex, varied song structure and longer individual tracks does not diminish my recognition for the approachability of this album. The shorter tracks likely appeal to more people on average and lower the barrier of entry into artsy concepts present by Preyrs.

The Wounded Healer isn’t a manifesto of hopelessness or of resignation, far from it—rather it is a recognition of the hurt, the sorrow, the hell carried by people, and the ways that harm that has been inflicted can be turned into fuel for providing healing to others. The need for healing, growth, community, and care—inwards and out—does not go unrecognized by the band; Montgomery’s vocals and repeated mantra that “Life Is Kind” to close the album, following her crooned request for introspection and self-discovery over the course of “W.D.I.F.L_” balance the messaging and certainly ensure the listener is not walking away from the album on an emotional down note.

The underpinning Jungian archetype of The Wounded Healer lives up to its name: the album has a strong chance to uplift and help others, and yet it could use some tending to in order to truly bring out Preyrs shine. Between Montgomery’s husky voice and the technical instrumental proficiency, I’m excited to catch the band on their next album.

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Recommended tracks: Humble Eyes, Crucify, Life Is Kind
You may also like: Cammie Beverly, Your Inland Empire
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Pelagic Records

Preyrs is:
– Amy Montgomery (vocals)
– Michael Mormecha (drummer/producer)
– Nolan Donelly (guitarist)
– Ciarán McGreevy (bass)