Werewolves - My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me (Album Review)
Werewolves - My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me
Released: August 11, 2023
Line up
Sam Bean // vocals, bass
Matt Wilcocks // guitar
David Haley // drums
Online
When I woke up Friday morning I wasn’t expecting to have my brain explode but I should have known. Werewolves conduct a particularly abrasive style of death metal, pummelling the senses with visceral artwork and a thumping double kick that is absolutely relentless. My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me is their fourth album of unrelenting venom, raging against everyone from other metal bands, their inner turmoil, nuclear war and abuse of power.
From the opening blast beat chaos of ‘Under the Ground’ to ‘Do Not Hold Me Back’ closing refrain (“maybe you’re a fucking c***”), concepts such as light, beauty and happiness are left to bands with less conviction. ‘Under the Ground’ sets a blinding pace, a tribute to “vinyl über alles” and those who believe “blast beats are forever” since “we are the heaviest fucking thing you’ll ever see”. As far as self-mantras go, it’s pretty hard to beat and even harder to disagree considering the brutality on display. The title-track backs this up with more blast beats and vocalist Sam Bean barking at the band’s rivals and fans who mock subgenres.
They have no intention of slowing down though, with the excellent ‘Bring Me to the Kill’ tripling down on the hatred and adding some blackened thrash to the riff. As noted at the start, it’s Friday morning and I haven’t had coffee yet. Not sure I’ll need it after this wake up call. ‘Brace for Impact’ actually does change tempo a bit, in a more traditional death metal way, not that anything is doing to stop drummer David Haley kicking the hell out his double kick.
Great death metal isn’t always blindingly fast though and they slow down for the apocalyptic ‘Destroyer of Worlds’. It’s a booming ode to nuclear destruction with some great stoner metal riffing. There is of course a middle section that picks up tempo but overall it’s a great change of pace.
‘Neanderhell’ ups the BPM again as Matt Wilcock slashes and burns his way through a riff sequence that touches on melody without ever really being melodic in the Gothenburg sense. Equally potent is ‘I Hate Therefore I Am’ in which Bean confesses “I wake up and I choose violence every single day” and quite frankly I believe him. It’s certainly the kind of song that will scare neighbours enough to stop them coming around to sing Xmas carols. It’s as pessimistic a depiction of human culture as exists today, though it is rivalled by the follow up track ‘I Knew Nothing Then and I Know Less Now’. There’s a subtle touch of black atmosphere to this one, though without sacrificing any of the bloodlust. It brings us to the aforementioned closing time, ‘Do Not Hold Me Back’ in which Bean is sick of everything and serves as a call to war for death metal aficionados everywhere.
Now that Werewolves have smashed my ears to start the day I am looking forward to the coming end of days. At the very least it will have some sweet death metal. My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me is the kind of album that doubles as a caffeine hit and sucks you into its bleak worldview. Their claim to the heaviest thing you’ll ever hear is a massive call to make but they’re certainly ambitious enough to give it a real crack and should split ear drums when they debut this material live.
Werewolves - My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me tracklisting
- Under The Ground
- My Enemies Look And Sound Like Me
- Bring To Me The Kill
- Brace For Impact
- Destroyer of Worlds
- Neanderhell
- I Hate Therefore I Am
- I Knew Nothing Then And I Know Less Now
- Do Not Hold Me Back
Rating: 8 / 10
My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me is out now on Prosthetic Records. Get it here
Review by KJ Draven (Twitter X and Instagram).
