Wake of Humanity – FIGHT/RESIST

If you’re following our straight edge write ups, like our top 2017 sxe releases or our latest interview, you’ve surely noticed that Wake of Humanity are a name fairly often mentioned on DIY Conspiracy. That surely comes as no surprise for anyone who’s ever played a single track by the Seattle-based vegan straight edge machine that this band has managed to become since the release of their menacing debut 7-inch At Capacity.

Now, three years later, without exaggerating, Wake of Humanity are releasing their debut full-length FIGHT/RESIST and they might have came up with the straight edge album of the year. The LP features seven tracks soaked with relentless angst but also determination. Wake of Humanity have always been fueled by their intolerance for the crimes of humanity against the world and against our own kind. However, their perspective has always been constructive and not blatantly nihilist as it’s usually the case with radical straight edge hardcore bands.

FIGHT/RESIST is also impressive as it sees the band not only still representing everything they’ve been standing for so far but boldly breaking their own music boundaries and reinventing their formulas.

If we don’t stand up nothing will change
If we don’t speak up now nothing will change
If we don’t act now nothing will change

Nothing Will Change

At its very core FIGHT/RESIST is still a hardcore record with a raw metallic edge but the band has made a step towards a faster, nastier but more refined punchier sound. The tracks on their album never stay on the same place. Each song is an anthem on its own, from the constant build up that is the opener “The New Storm” to the intense mid to super fast tempo switches of “Bled Dry” and “It’s Still Not Enough” to the groovy hard-hitting vibe of “Different Demons” to our absolute highlight, the painfully heavy and sincere future straight edge classic “Alone & Broken”. There is no single filler on this record, there is no second of music or a single word that feels out of place. Even the addition of a solely instrumental piece is well considered and needed as FIGHT/RESIST is so saturated with message and emotion that your being needs to rest for a while among the ruins of our world so well portrayed by the music and words of Wake of Humanity.

Social ladders constructed so tall
We may never reach the top
Climbing over each other
We fall victim to our own actions

To What End?

FIGHT/RESIST is an album that has to and will carve its name deep in the history of modern straight edge hardcore because it’s crafted with dedication, passion, outstanding musicianship and has the potential not only to spark a flame but to set on fire the wretched world we have to cleanse and reclaim.