Album/EP

Flaming Wrekage - Terra Inferna (Album Review)

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Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Apr 23, 2024

7 min read

Flaming Wrekage – Terra Inferna
Released: April 26, 2024

Line Up

Dave Lupton // vocals, guitar
Justin Murphy // guitar
Lachlan Campbell // bass
Matt Thornton // drums

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Australia’s metal scene is thriving right now. In the wake of Covid when the stages of local live music venues needed filling, a new generation of Aussie bands helped forge a burgeoning local scene filled to the brim with acts that would go on to give larger international touring acts a run for their money. Amongst those bands is melodic death metal outfit Flaming Wrekage. This unrelenting four-piece from Sydney has deservedly built themselves a staunch fan base on the back of two albums and visceral live performances across Australia and New Zealand. Now with the release of their third album Terra Inferna being unleashed upon the planet, we may just see Flaming Wrekage conquer the world.

Blastbeats and machine gun guitar riffs rip forth as frontman Dave ‘Luppo’ Lupton screams “Crucified on the surface of the sun” as the lads rip into album opener ‘Witch Hunt’. This is no gentle entry. There is no lube. Just straight up, next level bludgeoning thrash that captures Flaming Wreckage’s amazing live sound. A glorious start to proceedings.

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Second tune ‘Nightmare Architect’ chugs along deliciously, almost in the same fashion as Divine Intervention–era Slayer but it’s Matt Thornton’s drumming that really takes off in this song. Anyone who’s seen the band knows that Matt is usually a sweaty mess by the end of the gig. Despite his casual appearance, Matt is meticulous in his delivery. His drumming throughout the album has several “how the hell did he do that” moments, adding variety and groove to the music, while avoiding sounding mechanical and soulless.

Paired with screaming beast Lachlan Campbell on bass guitar and backing vocals, steady the ship so that when ‘Hell On Earth’ gets played at a show its sure to be a pit churner. Blasting onto the album like a tornado, it eventually reigns in the speed and transitions into a groove very similar to what Machine Head achieved on The Blackening. A haunting number with huge shifts between light and shade, but never relenting in its heaviness or horror. So cool.

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is my neck’s worst nightmare. Try not to headband to it.

‘Blood and Bone’ is for all you guitar heads out there. I mean its not like anything Flaming Wreckage does is light on the guitar wankery, and with two guitarists the likes of Luppo and Justin ‘Juzzee’ Humphry holding a Gibson and a Jackson respectively, you can hardly blame them. But hearing them play off against each other at speed is awesome and if you’ve got the sand to stand in front of Juzzee as he lets fly during a solo, its your own fault if you stand too close and have your face melted off.

Luppo’s vocals are abrasive, guttural and flat out otherworldly and while there’s not a huge range on offer when it comes to his singing, he gives it some extra mustard on ‘Ghosts’. This is my favourite song off this album and the accompanying film clip [below] is well worth watching, especially with cameos by Tim from Astrodeath, Nano from Black Rheno, and a Logie-worthy performance by Chappo from Mountain Wizard Death Cult.

‘Paralysis’ is a death metal guitar showcase, with chugging machine gun riffs, dual attack melodies and beaut duelling solos from the lads that starts off at a blistering pace and beautifully transitions to its withering demise. The tune itself doesn’t stray too far from the path of what Flaming Wrekage are known for but it is in no way a bad thing. Lyrically it is striking and the music progresses gloriously to it’s pain stricken end. I can see this going over well when they hit the shores of Europe later this year.

The tail end of the album grinds out with ‘Enduring Decay’ galloping its way at high speed into album closer ‘Our Own Blood’, both songs are belters, both the perfect exclamation mark on a killer album and the acoustic outro is the perfect way to see out this opus.

All in all this album is killer, well worth being listened to from start to deafening finish. It’s a well fleshed out and brutal collage of what the lads have to offer, and the recording of it has been painstakingly crafted with the end result levelling them up from their last two releases while capturing their live energy. Despite there not being much variation between the layout of the tracks (making it hard to distinguish songs at times), it’s well worth checking out and I can’t wait to hear this when they hit the road.