Apoch's Metal Review - Wolves Like Us: Late Love CD Review

Discography	Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed.
Full-Length(s):	Late Love (2011)

Review

Wolves Like Us is a new Hardcore meets Punk Rock act from Oslo, Norway. The group signed to Prosthetic Records to issue their debut offering, Late Love, after some extensive radio airplay in their native land, as well as touring with various other bands in the Hardcore and Punk styles such as Gallows and Kvelertak. With this nice mixture of music, does Late Love end up being a strong debut release, especially given where the band comes from and some of the other notable acts like those already mentioned that are from or around that area as well?

Late Love takes on a more traditional and modern clarity to the overall sound. The guitars have that traditional rock sound of being rather clean but with enough distortion to keep them somewhat heavy enough to suit the style, and a pretty strong bass presence that backs the guitars and can be audible, though not really contributing much else to the mix other then making the audio sound a little heavier, which works for the more simplistic and catchier nature of the music found on this release. The drumming is quite enjoyable with rich and loud snares backing a similar sounding set of bass kicks and cymbols that clash strongly in the mix. The vocals are mostly clean, though still having a louder Punk feel to them while being harmonized against the more melodic Rock fused Hardcore and Punk musical tapestries that the group pull together with a great amount of atmosphere and solid musicianship. This leads to a very modern sounding album that can tread between a well executed and sometimes moving Rock release with a bit of the Hardcore and Punk attitude.

Right at the start, Late Love introduces listeners to the mixtures of styles and the band's catchier yet attitude-driven music nicely with "Burns Like a Paper Rose." The song's lighter atmosphere and rather haunting guitars that can bring in some more Progressive elements to the atmosphere, but none that greatly overwhelm the album or even become a necessity to the release really shine through and make the song, and future tracks that follow the same kind of musical composition or foundation, really stand out with a more unique sound, coming off accessable to a wide audience while not forsaking the band's obvious roots in the styles. But, while those haunting melodies from the guitars are not really overused, the track "Sin After Sin" shows the potential these kinds of melodies can bring to the table. This track does feature some more haunting guitar elements to it then "Burns Like a Paper Rose" and another other song, giving off a rather somber and saddening sound matched to the booming clean vocal performance well. These rhythms don't necessarily take over the song, but there definitely is an undeniable focus on them to create such a moving track, and it works well for it's slower speed, even when the music picks up a bit during the bridges and solo half way through. Around that midway point also highlights the contribution of the bass nicely. While it's a pretty dominant presence here with backing up those somber guitar hooks, during those bridges that come in at that point, the bass really takes over and fills the gaps during what seems to be the solo of the song and make it richer while also having the track sound heavier due to the less apparent guitar work to the riffs that made up what the bass guitar continued to play. That's not the only time they shine through though, as the closing song "To Whore with Foreign Gods" really becomes a more interesting track with some more tribal musical concepts showing through against a more Progressive musical landscape in some of the bridges, but again they don't go too far and work more towards a strong atmosphere that can whisk the listener away for it's entire just over eight minute track length.

The only real downfall of this release is that some of the songs can become a bit too accessable. While there are many tracks that are clearly lighter and have a catchier Rock vibe to them, there's also those that feel a bit too light in comparison. "Secret Handshakes" is not a bad song by any stretch of the mind, but it feels a bit too commercial and mainstream for this album and greatly lacks that Punk or Hardcore attitude that helped drive many of the songs before, as well as those after. Showing more of a Neurosis style of tribal drumming, it becomes a little odd to hear that kind of approach accompanied by more modern Alternative Rock-esque guitars working with periodically added tamborines for what amounts to a "feel good hit" for the music world to the point where it's happier, more upbeat sound can actually become a bit sickening in the same sense as watching two new love birds make googely eyes at each other and talk only in pet names. Luckily the song ends with some guitar distortion from the chords being run out until they fade to silence and the drum kit pounds in with the snares to a faster straight forward Punk pace that brings the attitude back, but still using the same clean booming vocals that don't quite seem to fit the sound of the music itself and it's more aggressive approach this time around until the insanely catchy chorus kicks in to have you tapping your foot or bobbing your head along with it. The same can be said of the song "Gone to Dust" with it's more jumpy beat at the start and throughout the rest of the song, though the latter portion of the song just seems a little out of place due to it's less enthusiastic sound that clashes with that more energetic rhythm, and also just feels like a dull and boring way to end the song.

For a debut release, Wolves Like Us really bring us a surprisinly strong and enjoyable release. Late Love works on many levels then your traditional hook driven Punk and Hardcore album. The whole release has a strong atmosphere to it, and often can dabble in more traditional Progressive haunting guitar chords, but never abuses that concept outside of focusing more on that for one song, and creating too sickeningly upbeat a track for another. Late Love manages to keep it's attitude throughout the heavily melodic material, and some more traditional Hardcore and Punk moments do shine through, though in very limited quantities. Also, while many songs range from shorter to typical track lengths of around the five minute mark, the closing track "To Whore with Foreign Gods" shows the potential the group has to make solid, enjoyable, and non-repetitive Hardcore material that can play on the listeners emotions and how they interpret the song and it's more Progressive tendencies. Wolves Like Us really proves that they are a band to keep an eye on, and show why the group was quickly picked up by Prosthetic Records in the first place. If you like enjoyable, lighter, yet attitude driven music, strong melodies in your Punk or Hardcore, or just want something you can get into that's not too intense or a just another generic release in any of the styles, then Late Love is an album that is well worth taking the cost and time to experience.

Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Prosthetic Records.

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