The year after ‘Prologue’, the boys were back with their debut full-length album, ‘Secrets’. 13 tracks, 52 minutes in length, this was what the guys had been building to for the previous few years. If I thought it was hard to review the EP, this is just about impossible, as five of these numbers were taken to a new level with ‘The Collab Project’ which saw Mikey duetting with different singers as along with two new spoken word numbers they re-emphasised the need for discussing mental health. I have already spent nearly two thousand words discussing that EP and what it means to anyone suffering from mental illness (https://www.muzic.net.nz/articles/reviews/92585/ep-review-secrets-the-collab-project) , so am not going to delve back into those five numbers, except for saying that “Lucky Stars” (here performed with Thomas Oliver) is very different indeed to the later version. In some ways it comes across almost as country, with the atmosphere provided by some wonderful, layered guitars. Of course, there is no change to the lyrics, which hit hard every time “You shouldn’t need a song to save your life, The world should care enough for you to feel like you belong right here, But we all know that that’s not right, So sing this song and know that someone out there cares”. With “Secrets” talking about the secrets we keep and “Help Me Through The Night” saying “Then I met this black dog named anxiety, Don’t tell me that I’m meant to be calm, That you can relate, And that it will be okay”, which gets me everytime as that is an animal I am extremely aware of: lyrically this is a heck of an album.
But this is a release which contains more than “just” those numbers, and we kick off with opener “Start The Fire” which is some of the lyrics from “Let It Burn” going through keyboards, treated and ensuring one wonders what is going on. It is only 80 seconds long, and then the keyboards build and the band kicks in to “Let It Burn”. Straightaway we are into the world of WBW where there are no limits to what they want to achieve, mixing and blending different genres which do not belong together into something which is greater than either. I am not someone who would be seen at a rave, but one can imagine this being played at such an event, if those attending could just get their heads around the fact that while at times it firmly belongs there, there are plenty of others where this is a straight-ahead melodic metal act being driven along by powerful percussion and a singer who is on the very top of his game. Each song is massive, with huge production, from a band who understand the need for dynamics and contrast and that heavy music is emphasised when there is also room for space and no guitars whatsoever.
Built on a hugely powerful percussion, by drums which provide a groove, each song is a masterpiece of arrangements with guitarists Davie and B often not playing for sections at a time, letting Karl and Oli drive it from the back, with Oli adding additional drums/beats or keyboards, coming back in to provide very heavy riffs when the time is right, and then there is Mikey. The man can be clean and clear, somehow at odds with what is going on around him (check out the first verse of “As Long As It Takes”), or he can be in perfect harmony, lifting his voice effortlessly, or he can be in full-on metal mode forcing the band along, daring them to keep with him as he screams and provides the angst and emotion.
“Demons” probably shows their different elements to best effect with delicate keyboards providing the support for Mikey to sing gently, with the song gradually building. Then we get a child’s voice and suddenly we are in the full bombast of the chorus with Mikey in pain singing high above the crunch, “They’re holding back my arms, But they’re telling me this fight is fair, I’m a sucker for their charms, But these demons are no longer welcome here”. The next verse is percussion and keyboards, no room for the guitars, but they are just waiting for the right moment to come back in and Davie and B are suddenly in the house, taking the song to the next level. We move between dance and metal, in total contrast yet in complete harmony, bombastic and over the top but always in control, just.
When it comes to Written By Wolves I have lost all ability to be rational and objective as lyrically they talk to me directly, understanding my struggles and my pain, yet musically find a way to make it okay and lift me more than I can explain. Because of Covid I have only managed to see them play live twice, but I have two more gigs on my schedule for later this year and I just can’t wait, and then add to that a new album and 2022 is going to be a heck of a year.
If you have yet to become a member of the Wolfpack then you owe it to yourself to correct that today.
Rating: 10/10
Links:
https://writtenbywolves.com/
