Five albums in five years? Whaaaat? This is the fifth one I have reviewed so I knew exactly what I was getting from these Aussies and that is ferocious blasting Death Metal with catchy riffs and a wry wit with tongue firmly in carrion bulging cheek.
The other thing that Werewolves always provide is film sound clips which have me racking my brain for their source due to their familiarity but non mainstream nature. “Die For Us” kicks off with a politely terrifying Tom Hardy clip from the excellent Taboo before Sam Bean screams “Get Fucked” and the lycanthropes are let loose.
Dave Haley’s drums thunder in a flurry of mania – they are of the tempo folks will recall of Bean and Matt Wilcock’s previous band the fantastic The Bezerker – except of course these tubs are thumped organically. The opening title track is maybe not as extreme as the opener for previous albums. I get a Strapping Young Lad vibe from it and the chuggy riffs midway and the Obituary style filth towards the back end offer a new take, though the end of the track is as blistering as the start. Which is just as well as it got my ears and heartrate ready for “Beaten Back to Life” which is a hairy balls out blistering death metal race to the finish with hints of Black Metal in some of the guitar lines. Lyrically the words are as sharp as ever with the trio continuing to show their disdain for their listeners and the rest of humanity. “If you weren’t listening back in 1992 – your taste in music’s shit – FUCK YOU!”. I mean if you are gonna gatekeep do it with force and feeling fellas.
Same as with “Fuck You Got Mine” – listening to Werewolves is the extreme metal equivalent for going to Wong Kei in London’s Chinatown which is famous for its abrasive and terrible customer service and loved due to this.
“My Hate Is Strong” is a vicious spiky ball of, well hate. “Shit runs out my arse crack”? – ugh. The vocals run between the usual cleanish Travis Ryan meets Jeff Walker and some deep, deep gutturals. “This one is for the maniacs”. Fuck yeah it is. This is relentless abrasive madness.
“The Company of Wolves” is a great 80’s gothic werewolf film that I remember seeing as a kid, the fact that boobs featured in it and there being some scary bloody bits making an imprint on my pubescent brain. The track of the same name presented here reminds me of another gothic British institution – Cradle of Filth –something about the tracks frantic black thrash riffs and vocal rhythms remind me of Dani and co and it works a treat. Talking of treats there is a gnarly punky one up next with the D- Beat meets Grindcore blast of “Spittle-Flecked Rant”. Proper mosh pit fair which segues into the cinematic sounding but still crushing “We All Deserve to Be Slaves” with its pirouetting riffs and Deicide meets Sabbat spiky Death/Thrash.
By hook or by crook I seem to have reviewed a lot of tongue in cheek/ satirical metal this year. By far the winner of the greatest song title is “Under a Urinal Moon”. Priceless. The fact that it is a chunky slice of Tryptikon meets Darkthrone with some delightfully cheesy yet highly effective atmospherics. Love it. It truly takes the (urinal) cake.
Werewolves end Die For Us in typical furious fashion with “Stay Down” which is filled with rampant riffs and a mad drum beat that had my two fingers chopping the air like a jackhammer.
Werewolves are one of the most consistent bands in metal at the moment. An album a year is quite a feat, especially when they are all of the quality so far. Sure there is nothing groundbreaking or taxing about it. When music is this bloody gnarly and the lyrics are as fun and satirical as this? Well if you don’t like it you can get fucked!
(8.5/10 Matt Mason)
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