Alpha Wolf – A Quiet Place to Die (Review)

Alpha Wolf are an Australian metalcore band and this is their second album.

Here we have a 36-minute chunk of modern heaviness. This is the heaviest of metalcore, so much so that it borders on deathcore in places. Mixed in with this are aspects of djent and nu-metal, as well as modern hardcore/metal elements in general.

Alpha Wolf have a dynamic energy to them that I find very moreish. This is an adrenaline rush of an album, and it’s hard to remain motionless while listening to it. There are many bands playing similar music to this, but whereas a lot of these tend to recycle the same old riffs and ideas, sounding stale and old, Alpha Wolf mostly do anything but this. A Quiet Place to Die is clearly designed for the live environment, but it holds up remarkable well outside of this too.

The band are adept at stringing together gigantic slabs of metallic distortion into songs that make you want to move. What makes Alpha Wolf stand out, however, is that their songwriting allows them to shape these huge guitars into actual songs that leave a mark; there’s lots of memorable, catchy material here. Add to this a variety of other sounds and melodies that simply enhance the pit-friendly heaviness that defines the bulk of the music and you have an album that stands strongly and proudly above most of its peers.

A Quiet Place to Die is hideously enjoyable. Modern heavy metalcore rarely sounds as engaging and vital as this. Essential listening for those into the style.