Review: Planet Loss (album & graphic novel) by Wallowing

Wallowing are without doubt one of the most intriguing, creative and unique sludge metal bands to emerge in recent years. Their detailed conceptual image and branding is unusual for a band who play such relentlessly heavy music, but is clearly serving them well in creating a fervent and dedicated fan base.

Their extensive merchandising has so far included a multitude of different t-shirt designs, special edition CDs and vinyls, a 'space tape' cassette and even a figurine of their 'wobblenaut' mascot that emulates the band's stage wear. All of this from a group who have thus far released only one album consisting of a little over 30 minutes of music. In other contexts this might appear as overt commercialisation, but for Wallowing it seems this isn't a mere economic extension of the music but an integral part of their artistic concept. It makes sense then that we are now given this graphic novel which engagingly recounts the story told in Planet Loss in illustrated form. With beautiful artwork from Luke Oram, the novel serves to complete the all-encompassing world which Wallowing have created.

Planet Loss is set on what feels like a very distant planet and, in their own words, tells "an epic story of a small rebellion fighting its last battle against a ruling oppressive regime only to result in the end of civilisation due to both parties own ignorance". It sounds on paper as if it should be set to spacey stoner doom riffs with psychedelic synths and epic prog-rock noodling, but that could hardly be further from the truth. Planet Loss is a relentless battering of caustic riffs, ferocious vocals and suffocating atmospheres, and while that might describe many modern sludge metal releases, what makes Planet Loss stand out to me is the influence of hardcore.

If someone had told me Wallowing were the latest signing to Deathwish and the album had been produced by Kurt Ballou at GodCity, I wouldn't have thought twice about it. There's a plethora of sounds that Wallowing utilise that have been developed in the metallic side of hardcore for several years now, and it gives their sound a distinction from many Primitive Man copycats. It's not just the extensive use of feedback and the top-of-the-lungs screaming vocals that give this a metalcore flavour though. It's the two-step drum beats and chugging breakdowns on Earthless, the mathcore riffs and leads that punctuate Phosgene, and the dissonant melodic riffs on Hail Creation and Vessel.

Although there are distinct tracks, the album plays together as one long piece with very little let up from the harrowing aggression. It creates a real sense of narrative before the lyrical story is even taken into account, and it's a craft which you rarely hear done this well in music this brutal. 

The novel itself is a beautiful thing, and whilst I am no expert on graphic novels I can tell even just from my preview copy that there has been a huge amount of effort from both the illustrator and the storytellers. The story itself clearly has influence from Star Wars, something that comes across in the visuals too, but with a higher focus on the dystopian nature of it's world. The band have themselves described the album as "if crusties made 2112", and whilst it's not quite J.G. Ballard or Philip K Dick, there is a distinctly modern take on issues such as mental health, government oppression and racial discrimination that attacks the zeitgeist in a way comparable to Rush's space-prog opus.

The novel helps bring all of this into a new light, away from the crushing doom of the music but still irrevocably entwined to it. The depth of theme that was perhaps overshadowed a little by the brilliance of the music is now rightly given it's own space to breathe with these immersive images, and it really takes you away into the world of Planet Loss.

Wallowing's world is clearly one they have designed to be fully enveloping, but you can still enjoy Planet Loss for the music without having to be completely engaged with the narrative. The same is probably true for the novel as well, and I can imagine it being very attractive to fans of more traditional space-themed prog. Whilst producing a graphic novel with an album isn't a completely original thing, for a group whose sonic and artistic style is rooted in the heavily grounded worlds of sludge and crust punk, it is a brave thing to produce something this cosmic and otherworldly. Wallowing are clearly an ambitious band, and they are now setting the stage for an elevation beyond their roots that will unquestionably be done in their own unique way.

Wallowing on Bandcamp

www.planetloss.com