Nu-metal has always seemed to be a genre that has been highly contested in the matter of public opinion. Is it great? Does it suck? Honestly, who knows at this point. The genre has blessed us with some truly great records over the past several decades (Gideon’s More Power. More Pain., My Ticket Home’s Strangers Only, Slipknot’s Iowa, etc.), but has also traumatized us with some of the absolute worst (I’m looking at you, Suicide Silence). However, despite being one of the most truly inconsistent genres of music to ever exist, nu-metal still occaisionally outputs a banger or two.
Such was the case with Alpha Wolf’s monumental 2020 effort A Quiet Place To Die. While the album as a whole wasn’t exactly perfect, the band did supply us with a batch of wonderfully chaotic and ripping cuts, with the record’s lead single Akudama being one of the best songs to come out of the nu-metal genre in years. Despite the album not topping my personal album of the year charts, it was made very clear that Alpha Wolf possessed one massively obvious characteristic: potential. It was just one of those moments where I thought to myself “man, I think I could really love this band in the future.” And boy, let me tell you, I was absolutely right on that front.
So then, now it’s 2024, and Alpha Wolf is on the precipice of releasing their best effort to date in their brand new full length LP, Half Living Things.
The record catalyzes with the scratches and shrieking pitch-shifted riffage of Bring Back The Noise, making immediately clear what you will be getting yourself into for the next hour and a half or so. While the track does fall on the lower end of my personal tracklist ranking, it’s no doubt an ideal choice for the record’s opening track, perfectly encapsulating most of what will be heard over the course of the album’s run time.
Double Edge Demise picks up the pace tenfold, with tearing, chainsaw chugs and brutish mosh calls. This is truly where Alpha Wolf hit their stride; the band is at their very best when they’re gnashing and snarling centimeters from your face, showcasing a healthy dose of aggression and bite.
Haunter competes with ‘Akudama’ for the band’s best song to date, highlighted by eerie ambient leads and earth-shattering breakdowns. When vocalist Lochie Keogh shouts “I am living in a habitual nightmare,” you really feel it, with the song delivering line after line of auditory anguish interlaced with vicious, distorted nu-metal riffage.
The devastating Mangekyō follows a similar note, with the track feeling like you’ve had a bucket of kerosene dumped over your head and are actively being torched alive. The song is an absolute barrage of sonic artillery on the ears, beating you over the head with breakdown after breakdown.
And if you like breakdowns, you’ll be happy with this record, because there’s plenty of great ones sprinkled throughout. Most notably, the finale sections of Garden Of Eyes and A Terrible Day For Rain are some of the most over-the-top moments on the whole damn record, tearing a gaping hole in the fabric of your physical restraint. You will be physically assaulting some variety of inanimate object, be warned.
However, as much as I can rave all day about how much I adore the more violent and belligerent cuts off of Half Living Things, I do have two massively commendable elements of this record to discuss in further detail. Firstly, Alpha Wolf makes it clear that they’re not afraid to dip their toes into new waters, with the record featuring quite a bit of experimentation for the band, nearly all of which is executed quite well.
While singing is not entirely new for Alpha Wolf, the band expands on it quite a bit on this album. Songs like Whenever You’re Ready and the gloriously gloomy Ambivalence showcase a somber melancholia that the band has touched on before with songs like Bleed 4 You. However, whereas the aforementioned track from the band’s previous record felt just a tad snoozy to me, the execution on Half Living Things is fully nailed. This slightly more emotional approach serves as a nice breather from the onslaught of the rest of the record, and I fully welcome it Pretty Boy also features a clean sung chorus, yet is more akin to songs like Haunter or Mangekyō in tone. This serves as a nice touch to help the song stand out amongst the rest on the album.
Elsewhere, Sucks 2 Suck is by far the most rapcore Alpha Wolf has ever sounded, with its more subdued, hip hop verse flows and the legendary Ice T’s guest performance on the song’s breakdown. It’s nice to see that when the guy isn’t calling people dumbfucks on Twitter, he’s recording dope verses for smaller bands who deserve the noteriety of such a large scale feature.
Secondly, Half Living Things features some of the best production I’ve ever heard on a metalcore record, with every instrument fitting perfectly into the mix, being clearly audible and resting at the perfect volume. I mean, just listen to the intro section on A Terrible Day For Rain; for a song written in such a low tuning and fast tempo, it in no way sounds muddy or unreadable. Every single note of the ripping, cacophonous riffs is perfectly clear in the song’s mix, and this never waivers throughout the entirety of the record.
Overall, Half Living Things stands at a clear mountain summit above the rest of the band’s catalog, showcasing what is easily their best work to date. Half Living Things makes use of the potential that has always been present in Alpha Wolf’s music, transitioning them from a ‘pretty good’ band to an act that you’re truly missing out on if you’re not paying them the attention that they deserve. The album is chock full of nu-metalcore rippers that have infinite replay value, sucking you back in for more upon each listen. It’s safe to say that the band has really wowed me this time around, and I will be keeping a closer eye on them for records to come.
For fans of: Thrown, Gideon, breakdowns
‘Half Living Things’ by Alpha Wolf is released on 5th April on Sharptone Records.
Words by Hunter Hewgley
