Werewolves don’t like you. In fact, they fucking hate you. They said so on the first track of their last album What A Time to be Alive, and on track 2 of this new one, they flat out say they are better than you and are genuinely shocked that you think you’re worthy of buying their music. If you take offense to that, that’s a shame because their music is worthy.

In the first track, “Self-Help Book-Burning,” after the intro sample is over, if it wasn’t beforehand, they clarify how they feel about you with a quick “fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you.” I assume this is to the people who call them technical death metal because of the members other projects. Don’t get me wrong, this first track is so fast and furious it would make Vin Diesel erect. It’s a bruising pace, but there are no widdly widdlies to make it “tech death.” They do bring the groove, however in a, dare I say, melodic section with a little over two minutes left, but don’t worry. No clean vocals. Sam Bean still growls viciously enough to make you think you need a young priest and an old priest.

If you’re looking for something melodic, look no further than “Harvest of the Skulls,” which is a little longer at just shy of 5 minutes. Yeah, I said “melodic.” I’m sure there’s some sort of web search filter the boys have set up for this kind of thing and they’re going to find me and leave me in a bloody pulp for saying that, but it applies. The vocals and drums are still vicious and heavy, but the guitar takes a more laid-back dissonant approach for most of the runtime, but the last minute is well worth the wait.

One quality Werewolves possess is the capability to come up with brutal creative song titles. For example, “Nuclear Family Holocaust,”, which has a stellar, slightly unexpected pinch harmonics section. Otherwise, it’s another blast in the ass.

If there’s one downfall to the proceedings, it’s that by the time you get to the final two tracks, “Pride and Extreme Prejudice” and “Watch Your Mouth” respectively, one could be forgiven for thinking it all sounds a bit “samey.” At 9 songs and 35 minutes, that’s only an issue if getting your dick kicked in for that amount of time is a problem. I, however, am a masochist. So, with all that being said…

Despite what the band themselves say, you should buy this. Maybe they’re playing some reverse psychology of sorts because they seem like the type of gentlemen who don’t think you should listen to anyone or have them tell you what to do. However, they’re telling you that you shouldn’t buy their music. Luckily, I have a degree in reverse psychology and proctology from the University of Phoenix online, so I understand these assholes.

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