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Pack Of Wolves

A Nice Black Suit

Written by: PP on 26/07/2010 22:37:30

Here's a refreshingly original band with an awesome name as well: Pack Of Wolves from Graz, Austria. They've just released a debut album called "A Nice Black Suit", which sees the band live up to its name thanks to an aggressive, fiery hardcore sound that's equally inspired by experimental post-hardcore as it is by old school punk rock. It's a record where melody meets hardcore energy in a raw, almost live-like setting, full of up-beat, high-tempo hardcore anthems spiced with an indie and punk rock flavour. It's sufficiently chaotic to appeal to fans of bands like These Arms Are Snakes, but yet the songwriting is at an ambitious enough level to bring in people who swear to JR Ewing's post-hardcore or ...Trail Of Dead's dual-drum onslaught of sheer weirdness.

Off-tune guitars mix with ferocious rhythms and chaos-inspired vocals in a manner that should remind most of a very similar movement currently happening in the UK as a part of the Visible Noise roster: bands like The Plight, Burn Down Rome, Outcry Collective and others are tearing up UK venues as we speak. But Pack Of Wolves aren't satisfied just with groovy guitars or barked vocals. Instead, they integrate a large number of different inspirations from the mentioned genres to come up with an overall sound that's undoubtedly their own. With absolutely fantastic songs like "On My Phone And Knees" and especially "You Like Dreams, We Love Nightmares" acting as the two flagships for this bunch, they've also got the quality-level nailed down. The latter in particular is one of the best experimental hardcore tracks I've heard in a long times. It's like a crazy marriage between JR Ewing and These Arms Are Snakes. The rest of the album doesn't disappoint either, even if it doesn't quite live up to the promise of the first two tracks - although there are a couple of exceptions here to discover as well.

The good aspects are easy to spot on the album. There's undeniable energy to the band's music, as if it were written to be played live rather than on album. There's also just enough melody to barely hold things together as to not let the sound slip into unmelodic chaos. The experimental approach to songwriting and the variety present throughout the record are also something to take note of. Overall, I'd say the future is looking very bright for this Austrian outfit, the world can never have too few bands who value originality and innovation over 'safe' songwriting.

Download: "You Like Dreams, We Love Nightmares", "Dial B For Bewilderment", "On My Phone And Knees"
For the fans of: JR Ewing, These Arms Are Snakes, The Plight, Since By Man, ...Trail Of Dead
Listen: Myspace

Release date 21.05.2010
Lockjaw Records