Review Summary: I mean it’s got a grim two-headed wolf reaper with chains on it.
For a band that changed its name to avoid association with a Nazi prison gang, Wolfbrigade surely aren’t doing themselves any favors with the album artwork for their latest release. Run With the Hunted features a stark red background with black and white imagery over the top. There’s also an iron cross peaking out from behind the border of chains surrounding the main image. All of this is rather reminiscent of national socialism, which upon further investigation into the band is not at all what they are about. All this being said, the album cover does look bad ass. I mean it’s got a grim two-headed wolf reaper with chains on it.
Clocking in at a concise twenty seven minutes, Run With the Hunted is a rollercoaster of bludgeoning D-Beat fury that hardly slows down and leaves no shortage of memorable riffs or raw aggression. The guitars walk a line between riffed power chords, Motorhead like rock and roll licks, and picked death metal passages. All of this blends together for an extremely fun and surprisingly easy listen.
Lyrically, this band has been known to have a strong Lycanthropy theme through out their career. Some might think it’s cheesy or gimmicky, but it can be a rather refreshing break from the usual political and social messages that crust bands tend to linger on. Not that Wolfbrigade does not hit on these issues, because they do. They also scream anthems of primal rage and the brotherhood of the pack.
Two stand out tracks on the album are Kallocain and Return To None. The first of the two is Kallocain which starts out with an epic viking waltz that's as catchy as it is driving. Then, without missing a beat explodes into a comfortable punk beat. The guitars riff in and out of death metal tremolos and chorded punk progressions with an occasional whammy bar dive bomb thrown in for good measure. After the beating, the track settles back down into its waltz before coming to a close. Return To None kicks in with a tribal summoning of toms, then the guitars join in to match the rhythm. Once the drums cut out, the guitar chugs out a brief gruff riff before the vocals lets out a classic grunt and then the track rolls out in full force.
Wolfbrigade definitely aren’t setting out to reinvent the wheel here. What they have done is create and extremely catchy and fun slab of aggressive tracks. They’ve effectively mashed together tricks from all over the extreme metal spectrum and grounded them all down with a crusty punk anchor. Run With The Hunted makes for an enjoyable, memorable listen, and serves as a great introduction If you are new to the band.
