The short version: Wolves are a punch in the gut. A visceral, cathartic, maddening experience that simultaneously shatters and rebuilds the mind with a dizzying, dazzling scream of swaggering metalcore meets dissonant jazz, wrapped in crushing atmospheres. Their music is urgent, alarming, and cathartic: a reflection of the band’s tumultuous history and fury at the horrifying rise of xenophobia in the United Kingdom.
Formed in 2016, Wolves – consisting of Mark Howes (vocals/guitar), Andy Price (bass/vocals) Robbie Tewelde (drums), Andy ‘Beard’ Rodger (guitar/vocals/sax) and Ryan Tyrrell (guitar/vocals) – released their debut EP and began touring their home country. That early momentum, however, was crushed in the 2020 pandemic. Forced to put the project aside, Wolves all but dissolved.
But as “normalcy” resumed in late 2021, the band was determined to rebuild. The hard-learned lessons of the last 18 months instilled a harder edge to their chaotic sound, a cutting edge that added steel to the discordancy. Coming out on Ripcord Records on September 5th, Self-Titled is a furious rise from the ashes. Today, Wolves reveal a first glimpse at their revival with the music video for “Reformed (Try Love).”
The new single is an in-your-face condemnation of the right-wing politicians and personalities peddling racist hate via disinformation. Both a frenzied confrontation and emotional call for compassion, “Reformed (Try Love)” opens with a dizzying barrage of blaring chords that burst into cutting grooves and howling vocals that tread a ferocious line between clean and harsh. There’s just enough space to decipher lyrics calling out anti-immigrant propaganda without losing any of the rage.
The explosion of sound cascades into head-banging grooves that overflow with urgency, backed by a swarming swell of the thick atmospheres that define Ripcord releases. Blistering technicality meets bludgeoning aggression for a cutting, heady blend that maximizes emotional impact. The only respite is a short break of quietly spoken vocals calling out conservative bigots by name, which quickly explodes into a hurricane of crushing riffs and howls of “try love.”
If there was any lingering doubt about the song’s message, Howes shared:
“The ‘Stop The Boats’ narrative was a last gasp effort to hold onto power by fear-mongering to appeal further to the right. The song is a tirade against what I and my fellow Wolves believe to be an ignorant and vile ideology, foisted upon people by others who are exploiting fear for personal gain. Try having some dignity, or compassion, or courage, or some basic fucking empathy. Or heart, or respect, or honour, or wisdom… or love? Try love.”
Get a first look at the new Wolves and a preview of Self-Titled with the new music video for “Reformed (Try Love),” here first on Heavy Blog is Heavy.
Follow Wolves on Facebook and pre-order the album from Ripcord Records. Self-Titled will be released on September 5th.