White Lung - Deep Fantasy

‘Drown With The Monster’ starts things off as they mean to go on, with guitarist Kenneth William’s ferocious hardcore licks proving themselves to be the perfect companion for drummer Anne-Marie Vassillou’s chaotic percussion. Just as you think they couldn’t get any more relentless, White Lung rewrite the rulebook, tossing the old one out of the window before shredding unabashedly through Mish Way’s songs about addiction, sexuality and body dysmorphia, amongst other family friendly topics. There’ll be those who come for Way’s eloquent rhetoric, and there’ll be those who come just to hear a punk band shred - either way, both parties will end up leaving ‘Deep Fantasy’ with a lot to love.

Way is more hungry for melody than she’s ever been too, as ‘Deep Fantasy’ proves itself to actually hold some of White Lung’s most accessible material to date. Underneath its 80s hardcore aesthetic, ‘Down It Goes’ is a supercharged piece of punk rock that finds Way passionately flooring it - the chorus dominantly howls as William performs mesmerising guitar wizardry (seriously, the guitar sounds on this album are totally fucking awesome), and it’s hard not to imagine tons of kids losing their shit as White Lung perform what can only be considered as a direct hit.

The band find themselves pushing this formula to the absolute limits by the time ‘Deep Fantasy’ clocks out, with William continuing to hypnotise and thrill with unbelievably enticing strumming (‘Face Down’, ‘Sycophant’) as Way somehow continues to dominate over the militant pounding Vassillou gives the drum kit. White Lung sound absolutely enormous on ‘Deep Fantasy’, and it’s a testament to their stamina and technical abilities that they just do not let up on the pace. White Lung are bloodthirsty wolves not willingly let out on the prowl, and on ‘Deep Fantasy’ they have their claws out ready to draw blood wherever they see fit.

Tags: White Lung, Reviews, Album Reviews