SONG REVIEW: Spiritwaker - "Anhedonia (Feat. Alessandro Limone of Careless Sanctions)"

“Upcoming metalcore band, Spiritwaker just dropped their heaviest track ever!” 

by Jesse Smith

2024 is obviously the year for ass beaters and Spiritwaker is coming into May SWINGING. Almost halfway through the year and we have already covered a previous release from the band titled “Breathe In” which I highly recommend checking out after you listened to this new fire track. If you are just hearing about Spiritwaker for the first time, here is a quick summary of the band. Dominating the midwest metalcore scene, the band is from Kansas City. Having a discography spanning back to 2018, the band has had consistent releases throughout the years, and with those releases they keep pushing the bar up and up and up. Now it’s time to dive into the brand new track “Anhedonia”.

Like I stated up there, this track is an ass beater from start to finish. I would go as far to say this is one of IF NOT the heaviest and most aggressive track Spiritwaker has released to date. Starting heavy out of the gate, the intro riff comes in quick and breathes life into whoever is listening. Having that signature metalcore “bounce” to it really captures the attention and holds it. It is a simple but wildly effective intro that I’m sure is going to be a highlight of their live set. There are no clean vocals on this track at all which adds to the heaviness of the song, but there is a guest vocalist! Alessandro Limone from the Chicago up and coming band Careless Sanction adds a devastating verse with an impressive vocal performance. With Alessandro not being a huge household name, the feature was done for the music and it shows because It was a great fit. Towards the end of the track is when the real heavy drops happen, and I won’t spoil it but there are more than one and they all hit very hard when they come in. The band did a great job with keeping the flow since there are no rea “choruses” and the structure is just “be heavy”. 

This song reminds me a lot of Woe, Is Me’s single “Red” with how the guitars sound and how the mix is. Which is great because I also love that song. And also has the aggression and “lack” of structure that the song “The River” has by Wage War. With heavy music coming back into the limelight and bands getting rewarded for being brutal again, I feel this track is on the pulse. They say that the music industry and trends go in a circle, I’m starting to see the next wave approaching and I hope everyone is ready for the warzone shows are about to become. For a song that means “Lack the feeling of pleasure” I sure had a great time listening. 

Zackary Meegan