Alpha Wolf // Half Living Things
Alpha Wolf has become one of the most recognizable names in metalcore in the span of just a few years. Following the ejection of their vocalist, Aidan Ellaz, in 2018, Alpha Wolf leveraged the ensuing drama and elevated their name to new heights. Aiden went on to form Dealer, and the tit for tat retaliations and diss tracks undoubtedly benefited both bands. Dealer also has a new album coming out on May 10, and it will be in direct competition with this one. I’m excited to see who comes out on top.
It’s surprising that these two groups are so evenly matched. Most bands would have folded to the energy and attitude that Aiden brought to Dealer, but Alpha Wolf recruited Lochie Keogh as their new vocalist and, in my opinion, his ability to go toe to toe with Aiden saved Alpha Wolf from getting demolished.
That brash attitude and undeniable energy has become a cornerstone of Alpha Wolf’s music. “Bring Back The Noise” and “Sucks 2 Suck” are huge callout songs that will definitely be crowd pleasers. Sometimes it feels like they’re trying a little too hard to seem badass, but that’s kind of what Alpha Wolf is all about, and it’s a hard line to walk, so I don’t hold it against them.
While the straight up songs are fun, I found myself enjoying the abstract songs more. “Haunter” and “A Terrible Day For Rain” offered more variety. A few moments felt like they could have been on Emmure’s album ‘Look At Yourself,’ and I’d like to see them lean into that more.
For me, the problem with Alpha Wolf is that if you’ve heard one song, you’ve heard them all. Lochie’s vocals are really good, and he has decent range, but somehow all of his lines sound the same. Maybe it’s because he’s pushing the same pissed off attitude all the time. Or it might be because his screaming style and the cadence of his screams are super predictable. It’s the same problem Silence/156 has too.
I think it also has to do with the song structure. If you look at the lyrics, there’s an insane amount of repetition of the same lines in parentheses. The back and forth effect is neat at first, but it seems like a real crutch in terms of how they progress through their songs.
Unfortunately, the instruments follow the same “nu metalcore” template in most of the songs too. They’re fun and sound cool, but there’s not much that distinguishes one song from another instrumentally.
And the worst part is that when Alpha Wolf does try something new, they don’t do it very well. “Whenever You’re Ready” isn’t too bad, but “Ambivalence” completely missed the mark. I’m not sure why they decided to end the album on such a weak note. “Pretty Boy” also goes off the rails and has an added cringe factor due to the lyrics.
This album has some great moments, but it’s dragged down by the lows. Every time Alpha Wolf tried to expand their sound or do something new, it didn’t work. They still haven’t figured out how to successfully incorporate clean singing and the even more marked shift toward nu metalcore instrumentals probably homogenized the album more than they intended.
