WRYT EP Review: Power and Purpose

Rock is rebellious in nature. Rock music of the 90’s and early 2000’s embodied this, with the genre diversifying into a huge number of subgenres to reflect the expression of the artists. WRYT chose to take the grunge style of rock and make it into his own with his self-titled EP release. With it, Mychael Wright puts forth two tracks that harness the power of rock and roll to tell his own stories of personal struggles and his passion for toppling the powers that have kept him down. From the beginning, ‘Ivory Tower’ shows off passion and power.

Ivory Tower is a track that embraces the ‘90s grunge rock aesthetic whole-heartedly. From the top, the soft, distorted strumming cradles you in before the drums bring it down and flip the mood of the track. The audible electricity in the distortion of the guitars feels melodic when its subtle licks create interesting surprises that continue to reveal themselves beyond the first listen. The vocals create a friction that is contained by the instrumentals until the epic guitar solo gives way to an explosive and emotional outro sequence, where the pain the vocals are palpable as he utters “And when their voice begins to fade, who is left to blame?” It all comes together to create a powerful track that nails the aesthetic it goes for in a unique and progressive way.

‘Milk and Honey’ follows up with an interesting drum and bass intro gives way to a smooth guitar riff that sets the stage for an emotional vocal performance from the top. The vocals take front-and-center in this track and are powerful, as are the lyrics themselves. Lines such as “this dream is not the one we had in mind. Divided we still stand. Forgetting redemption” and the catchy chorus of “oh this land of milk and honey tastes so bittersweet, this is defeat” hit hard and force your focus during the track. The instrumentals unfold behind all of this slowly until it all hits you at once just before the 4-minute mark when the guitar solo turns the entire track up for the final impact when Mychael Wright says “so lie to me again.”

There is a powerful story in the tracks of this EP. The lyrical content is most certainly the focus of the piece, with hard-hitting vocal performances that echo with emotion and pain. These create powerful moments in each track and serve as their focus, making them great for repeat listens for those it speaks to. This is backed up with some fantastic instrumental work that is easy to rock out to in ‘Ivory Tower’ and is built up excellently in ‘Milk and Honey’ to give it its own personality. It comes together to make this EP one that fans of a retro-rock aesthetic will enjoy, but will find its home on the playlists of those who can appreciate the lyrical depth.