Hailing from Vancouver, Canada, Wolfborne are a four piece groove-inspired alternative metal band. Taking inspiration from current sounds and old, they’ve got a good overall balance to their sound and are set to release their debut album “In The Beginning…” which was produced and mixed with a little help from engineer Nick Rowe (Bloodsimple) and Lanning Kann (Dodging Daylight) and song writer Ken Goode (Stand Down). Let’s see if this is the beginning of something good then.
“Livin’ The Life” skips the need for any slow or dramatic build-up and just jumps right out in your face with a huge faced paced sound which has that very familiar alternative metal/hardcore egde – full of anger but still gentle enough for people to listen to who aren’t too keen on the hardcore sound. Its catchy chorus is simple and its big main riff in the verses has some good groove behind it too. “Out In The Streets” starts off with a chugging styled nu-metal riff with tormented vocals to boot. It speeds up a little as it continues with a sound reminiscent of the more melodic/easier on the ears Vision of Disorder material and has a good moment or two for headbanging in the choruses. The breakdown midway through brings the nu-metal feel back again and this lasts till the end of the song, with the deep sounding bass and the tormented vocals adding some atmosphere to it. “Sex Sells” is the first single off the album and it has a dirty sounding groove to it right from the go. Its sang for the majority of the track and the pre-chorus bit has the guitars laying down some good pinch harmonics in the groove adding some dynamics to the feel whilst the vocal line acts as the melody. The middle section has a good build up section which adds some energy into the track before it goes back into the sleazy groove once more, topped with some interesting samples and some nice lead work to round the track off.
“Jellyfish” starts off with a bass line which quickly turns into a thick sounding heavily palm-muted riff. The vocals are delivered rather cleanly and in the chorus, synth samples in the background give it a big moment feel which works quite well. It’s a standard alternative metal track and it works quite well. It has a section where it goes clean, adding a touch of moodiness to the song before the big chorus returns just in time to bring it home. “The Fall” starts off clean with a few layered guitar lines and more clean singing. It’s got a melancholy feel to it which continues when the distortion kicks in halfway through, hitting with a big impact and keeping the same feel to it as the first part of the track. The gain finally goes and it goes back to the clean feel again for the end of the song. “Funky Town” starts off with some synth effects and some really suspect vocal delivery. It just doesn’t fit with the album, like it’s a track wrote for radio airtime but not a real representation of the album or the band. The heavy groove riffs do come into the song but it doesn’t distract from the awkwardness of the track. It really is a square peg in a round hole moment .
“Let It Rain” thankfully gets the album back on track. It’s got a decent groove styled riff in the intro which will have you nodding along and the bass mirrors it for the verses. The vocals are delivered cleanly again. The chorus kicks in with some force, keeping a steady pace with melodic guitar work and passionate singing . The guitars add some extra touches in the later verses with shimmering sounds, adding to the moody feel over the steady groove and the sound works. It’s a simple but effective piece and probably one of the best tracks of the album. “Stars Are Eyes” starts off with a quick clean intro which quickly turns into a full on distorted, heavy groove filled riff. This track has more of an edge to it vocally with some harsh deliveries and harsh backing vocals at times in the verses whilst the chorus keeps the big feel with the clean vocals. The main riff though, it’s so simple but effective and the drums are great. It’s a shame this is one of the later tracks of the album because if it came sooner, it’d really grab your attention.
“Stranger” starts off with an almost tribal like drumbeat with the vocals over it. Guitars let chords ring out over it just to help build some atmosphere and this carries on till just after a minute in when the distortion kicks in. This track has a very mid-2000’s Deftones feel to it with the way it’s delivered. Round the halfway mark, the bass gets fuzzed out, adding some thickness to the song but it stays at the same pace, teasing at something huge coming, but not quite delivering it. It’s an ok closer for the main tracks, but just not enough kick to it, especially following the previous track. “Let it Rain” (acoustic) is the bonus track, and it’s a seriously stripped down version of the album track. It’s got a very Incubus feel to it in the delivery and the vocals too.
On the whole, “In The Beginning…” is a decent debut album. It’s got some good high moments and some really low ones, but overall it isn’t too bad. It’s just a shame that this type of sound isn’t that relevant at the moment. If this album would have came out six to eight years ago, it would have been massive and would have fit quite well with the bands out then who played a similar style. It’s worth a listen and a nice bit of easy listening.
(6.5/10 Fraggle)
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