Honey Venom by Wade Easy: Album Review
Honey Venom by Wade Easy: Album Review
Emerging from the misty mountains of Appalachia, Morgantown, West Virginia’s Wade Easy has released his third (!) album of the year, the aptly titled Honey Venom. Self-described as “haze from the hills,” Easy’s music sounds like the seedy underbelly of what Gram Parsons called Cosmic American Music. It is raw, dangerous, and seductive all at once. Lyrically deliberate and economical with his words, Easy delivers them in a style that is almost ASMR-like—someone whispering the secrets of the dark, dense forest that is his music directly into your ear.
The album opener, “Ey Mama,” kicks things off with a grinding guitar riff from the Crazy Horse school of rock. Its primordial feel is echoed by lyrics like “I’ll move ya back to my cave.” The sentiment, in this case, seems to match the music. Easy’s comfort and familiarity with darkness is also demonstrated in the equally sludgy, guitar-driven “Low,” where he sings, “If the sun don’t shine / I really don’t mind.” “Reverie” starts like a prototypical early-’90s grunge tune, but rides its mesmerizing riff until it bores deep into your subconscious. “Tomato” sounds as though it would fit comfortably into a spaghetti western, or perhaps a lonely march through a desolate desert landscape in the dead of night.
Much of the rest of the album can best be described as Americana filtered through Easy’s mysterious psychedelic sensibilities. There is a definite atmosphere to this album: I listened to it on a rainy, dreary Saturday morning, and it seemed to fit effortlessly into that setting and mood. Though most of the songs are acoustic, the hypnotic, droning riffs and rhythms conjure images of wandering through deserted landscapes, drowning in your own solitude but reveling in it. The vocals, buried deep in the mix and so drenched in effects as to be almost unintelligible, somehow add to the album’s shadowy nature.
The meaning behind the album’s title, Honey Venom, becomes readily apparent as you listen. There’s a strange sweetness and smoothness to the album’s music and lyrics, but also something darker and more perilous just below the surface, waiting to flow through your veins. Wade Easy appears to be a very prolific artist who is not afraid to shine a little light into the darker corners of existence, both musically and lyrically. All we have to do as listeners is dare to venture into the darkness with him.
Honey Venom was released on October 2nd, 2026.
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