Ah the irony of the album title as I sit in lockdown. Even more so as Werewolves are of course Australian and as such are enjoying a lot more freedom than the majority of the planet. Hairy flea-bitten bastards!

Annoyingly I cannot hold this against them as this album is as unrelentingly brutal as their debut, 2019’s “The Dead Are Screaming”. The fact that their country was aflame just after its release seems to show that Werewolves have a penchant for apocalyptic timing which suits their sound and lyrical themes down to the gnawed hip bone!

The trio of ne’er-do-wells :- David Haley, Matt Wilcock and Sam Bean admitted that their debut was a rushed affair and was spewed out with much haste. This sophomore effort had more thought and consternation before it’s birth, aided by the hefty lockdown measures put in place by the Aussie authorities.

This extra time in the oven has given “What a Time to Be Alive” a few more dimensions than its Caveman metal older sibling.  Fans of the debut should not fear, the brutality and intensity is still very much evident as opener “I Don’t Like You” announces with a clawed fist to the throat from the outset.

This time around the extremity is just as direct but more varied in its delivery. The Werewolves are going for ornate and acrobatic combination moves as they eviscerate and maim rather than going straight for the jugular in a finisher. “Sublime Wartime Voyeurism” is glorious Grindcore of the old skool variety with some flagrant Black Metal tremolo breaks at the end whilst “Mission Statement” is proper punky death grind with a rolling Venomous Concept vibe and a smattering of Gorerotted. Ah – the good old bad old days.  The single “Crushgasm” is spiky and furious exhibiting an overt tech death edge which is all the rage these days. Paired with pummelling blasts and a rumbling bassline it maintains a primitive edge whilst “Unfathomably Fucked” left my neck in that very state and contains one of the chuggiest breakdowns I have heard in a while. I am talking Boltthrower chug not NYHC.

David Haley’s drumming is inhuman. His blasts and fills blur through each track like a steroid laden Octopus on a Lucozade drip (the old stuff in the orange cellophane) and he drags his bandmates along with him. The fact that Sam Beans guttural vocals keep up with the beat in “Antisocial” is a feat of endurance.  The fury continues into “Traitors and Bastards” which features a Bronson quote at the crescendo of its violent cacophony.  All this breakneck speed makes the base riff of “A Plague on All Your Houses” seem almost Doomy – it is anything but.  There is something almost danceable to this track though. It is brutal death grind but with a proper groove to it that gets the hips swaying, something that Bean’s alma mater The Berserker always managed to do as well.

The finale – “They Will Pay With Their Own Blood” to these wizened old ears, is a glorious mash up of Berserker, Enslaved, Bal Sagoth and Motorhead. An epic end to a thunderous album.

I dread to think what will beset the world when these guys go in the studio for their third effort. I am digging a bunker now!

Werewolves are as vicious now as they were in 2019. Expect more policeman’s heads to roll down escalators.

(8/10  Matt Mason)

https://www.facebook.com/werewolvesinhell

https://werewolvesdeathmetal.bandcamp.com/album/what-a-time-to-be-alive