Alpha Wolf. Alpha Wolf. Alpha Wolf.
You’ve surely heard about the band at this point of 2020, with several humongous singles making waves throughout the metalcore scene this year. I included them in my list “5 heavy bands that are poised to explode in 2020” and I’m still confident with that placement. The hate-filled act brought us the boisterous breakdown in “Akudama” and the pure vitriol of “Creep.” Now, it’s finally time for their album, a quiet place to die, to enter your ears.
It’s one thing to BE loud, and another to SOUND loud. Thank the production team behind a quiet place to die to bring out the best of Alpha Wolf. Vocalist Lochie Keogh sounds downright unhinged on each track, pairing well with his incensed lyricism that never seems to miss its mark.
The instrumentation across a quiet place to die has to be commended. The guitar duo of Scott Simpson and Sabian Lynch bring a dynamic that is destructive and dastardly. With plenty of panic chords and high note-riffs, it’s more than just your typical 0-0-1-0-1-0 affair.
Indeed, what Alpha Wolf brings in a quiet place to die is a nonstop onslaught with no expenses spared. Every song has a memorable moment, with none of the “singles are more high-quality than the non-singles” filler. I had to drop what I was doing when the silence-laden breakdown in “Rot in Pieces” hit me. “Acid Romance” has a gun cock preceding a massive riff, which sent shivers down my spine.
Like an adrenaline shot, the closing to “Ultra-Violet Violence” picks up speed and leads into the chaotic “The Mind Bends to a Will of its Own” which barrages the listener with blast beats and a lyrical premise of self-doubt and insanity. The hits keep coming on a quiet place to die, not a second spared.
Alpha Wolf most recently released a video for “Restricted (R18+)” which touches on themes most bands won’t. With the most hateful mosh call I’ve heard in ages, “If I were you, I’d wanna kill myself too“, the band really stands to make a mark with every song. a quiet place to die wraps up with “don’t ask…” broadcasting the more deep-seated emotional side of Alpha Wolf with melodic guitars and just the right amount of fervor to resonate with listeners after the previous ten tracks had a different tone.
a quiet place to die is 2020’s hype machine that delivered on its promise, an album that won’t soon overstay its welcome and will positively crush it live upon concert returns. From the perfect choice of front-to-back track listing to the sheer lack of filler, this is the peak of the metalcore mountain. Alpha Wolf IS the next big thing in the genre, and a quiet place to die is living proof. Do NOT miss this record.
Rating: 10/10
A press copy of a quiet place to die was provided courtesy of Greyscale Records.
