Have you ever walked through an autumn forest at the brink of dusk and wondered whether you're just one crunching leaf away from bringing the crooked trees to life? For once those sapping giants wrap their jagged roots around you the screams of fear and anguish will be mere echoes that accompany the crooning of the crows.

When rummaging through the heavy debris of a Metal record, one can expect anything to leap out and get overly grabby or extensively repulsive. Thus it only right to be hesitant about taking to that leafy trail - regardless whether you're an artist or a fan. You see...the aforementioned nightmarish visions may apply to anyone from hobbit to an axe-wielding berserker...anyone other than WEAKSAW it seems.

The French metallers appear to abscond to that darkened wood by will and tear off the branches before they even have a chance to drop a pinecone.  Their latest effort "The Wretched Of The Earth" comes from nature's shadiest corners and is a creature of Darwinian resolve, but it is always kept on a tight leash in the grip of the band's fearless approach.

The band yanks the chord and gets the chainsaw growling with the opening title track "The Wretched of the Earth", digging under the bark with fat, rolling riffs that resemble songs in the likes of "Early Grave", the opener of ARCHITECTS' 2009 effort "Hollow Crown". The latter band does in fact seem to posses a noticeable influence on this record, infusing it with hints of a Post-Hardcore/Metalcore approach as is evident by the white-knuckled attitude and confidently sombre melodicism of such tracks as the stand-out "XXY" and "Storyteller".

WEAKSAW can also be seen mounting the atmospheric misty mountains of Post-Metal with the two-part tale "Zabvenie", which sees them sink their hands into hallowed soil and slowly meditate upon their brutality; only to emerge darkly enlightened and unleash their heaviness upon the earth. On tracks like "Whitetip" and "The Expressionless" the band also adds prominent elements of Black Metal to their already well-rounded style to put the finishing touches on the spiked stems of their metal harvest.

"The Wretched of the Earth" is indeed heavy...but tastefully so. The guitars grunt as if they've been strung with tree trunks and the vocals of Tristan Haillot sound like every crackling vowel is crawling up from the deepest root.  The production is a touch muddy but it does in fact contribute to the sludgy, raw feel that sets this record apart in its integrity. And whilst the mix is often crowded, it does well in combining the instruments on certain riff passages - like the ones in "Natoma" - to create a tumbling, rockslide feel that adds to the serious grooviness of the record. For fans of acts like TOOTHGRINDER and STEAK NUMBER EIGHT this will surely be a seed to water.

Overall - "The Wretched of the Earth" is firmly planted in the ground with its pure devotion and explorative approach. WEAKSAW have come out of the woods with a heavy, earthy record that bridges the gap between accessibility and artistic value.  It is dark, contemplative and yet inspirational in its expressiveness; it is growth defined.