aortaproject - Wounded Warrior

aortaproject is a dark electronic project who takes influence from the likes of Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails' fame (and a whole lotta others). They first popped up onto the scene in February of 2020 as far as the Bandcamp page shows. It was then that Steven Sheffield, the creator of aortaproject, released his debut single 'Sleeping With Ghosts'. It didn't take aortaproject long after to release his six-track debut EP "Dark Secrets", which featured a collaboration with Imitara. After a couple of free remixes, aortaproject turned back to releasing singles. His aim is to release a song a month which will eventually culminate in a compilation of the tracks in EP format. The first of these has been the single 'To the Uninitiated'. Next up in line, and the subject of this review, is 'Wounded Warrior'. 

The song begins with lovely piano keys struck slowly but methodically, as a very faint ambient backing provides a bit of atmosphere. Following this, striking drums that echo and a grizzled synth line kicks in. All of this comes together as soon as collaborative guest vocalist Rachel Bennett of A Just Nova begins singing. Powerful, evocative, and strong, her voice carries the track to prominence and practically dominates the underlying beat. Whenever I hear someone talk about the newfound genre of industrial-pop, I'm unsure of what direction to point someone in other than a select few artists such as Aesthetic Perfection or even Kanga to an extent. I think that I can now add aortaproject to that list. 

To say the very least without tripping over words that have been previously typed, aortaproject's newest single 'Wounded Warrior' is a wonderful industrial-pop ballad that's emotive, powerful, and dark all in one go. Out on April 2nd, this is not a song to be missed. 

This review was commissioned through our Ko-fi page.
Mar 28 2021