ALBUM REVIEW: Wolfbrigade - Life Knife Death

Now in their 30th year, there is no slowing down for the Swedish punk / metal outfit Wolfbrigade. They have a long history, forming in 1995 as Wolfpack until their name change in 1999. 

Wolfbrigade has released ten albums prior to this skin-stripping album, that is as ferocious in lyrical content as it is in hideously aggressive and rolling riffs. The current line-up is Micke Dahl – vocals, Jocke Rydbjer – guitar, Erik Norberg – guitar, Johan Erkenvåg – bass and drummer Tommy Storback. 

It’s been five years since The Enemy: Reality was released, and things haven’t got much better in terms of topics. At the time, bassist Johan Erkenvåg observed that "the political climate in the world these past few years has been the worst that we’ve ever experienced in our lifetimes". You’d be a brave person (and probably totally misguided) to think that things have got any better, thus giving source to Life Knife Death. "Mankind – a virus with shoes. As always, our lyrics are fuelled by the ever-growing disgust we feel about humanity. The everyday realization that we are a part of this fear-animalistic stupidity that drives the world further into oblivion. The inspiration just keeps raining down from the sky, killing the masses. Waking up to this every day makes us want to scream in horror." 

12 tracks in 27-minutes is probably our Simon’s ideal timeframe for an album, with the longest track clocking in at under 3:30. But contained within this concoction of influences that draw from Discharge, Motörhead and Entombed to name but three, is a visceral and raging collection of rolling brutality that threatens to rip your face and leave a bigger scar that a smashed bottle. It’s ferocious and nasty stuff, but also for those who appreciate said influences. From the opening blast of Ways to Die, this is incredibly high-tempo hybrid mix of metal and punk, with the attitude and sentiment all that is needed, rather than some fuzzy label that is meant to pigeon-hole the band. 

The songs come hard, and they come fast, and whilst there is a certain blueprint that they follow in their song writing, there is still variation across the songs presented here. A Day in the Life of An Arse is somewhat different to the rudimentary Nail Bomb, although both have an explosive riff that powers the tracks forward. Skin Changer is a slower paced one, somewhat unusual given the name of the song, but the tempo ratchets back up on Cyanide Messiah and for every song that follows. That is, apart from closing song The Age of Skull Fuckery, which is based on a slowed-down riff from Unruled and Unnamed. It’s an eerie conclusion to an album that you either love this or hate it. Fans of punk, death and thrash and the burgeoning black ‘n’ roll styles should be right at home here.

Life Knife Death is released on 13th September via Metal Blade Records

Review by Hutch

Band photo: Therese Öhrvall