Album Review: Wolfbastard - Satanic Scum Punks
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
If you are in the market for some short sonic blasts of nihilistic black metal then look no further than “Satanic Scum Punks” from Manchester’s finest, Wolfbastard. This is proper in your face, pedal to the metal aggressive noise, as the band release new material for the first time in four years, with eleven new tracks that show you no mercy whatsoever.
The trio of Dez (guitars/vocals) Si (bass) and drummer Dave, aren’t here to make friends and influence people, they are here to bring you filth, fury and menace with their turbo charged belligerence. The madness begins with opener “It’s Fucking Dark” which has a simple opening riff alongside a gently pounded drum before you get the anguished scream and mighty shout of “Fuck Off” and like an atomic bomb, it explodes into life!!!
The album title track follows, and it starts that relentless hammering that black metal is famous for. Its fast and furious with layers of demonic screams and shouts but more importantly, its bloody enjoyable and their riffs have that angry edge to it, that I love most about other bands in the genre like Midnight. They also have a scornful range of song titles, “Let The Bastards Burn” being just one, and it works beautifully with their destructive compositions, and you know that this trio would ignite the flames of those fires.
You get a mighty rush of adrenaline on “Hail Satan Kurwa” as they ramp the tempo up further with merciless drumming and frenzied, deathly screams from Dez. “F.O.T.D.” is like a battering ram to your senses, and what’s impressive is that they don’t waste their notes by over complicating the songs, as it’s a full-frontal assault, and woe betide anybody getting in their way. There’s a slightly more measured approach on the opening of “Blood on Steel” but they are soon back to their hostile selves, with more screeching guitars and booming bass.
There’s a tidy bass intro from Si that starts “Drink for Hell” and I can see this becoming an anthemic song, with the chorus being chanted by audiences far and wide. It’s rapid and unapologetic with rage before it leads into the fabulous “Fuck The Bastards”, which sees their ballistic anger go off the charts. It’s over way too quickly, but that’s why it works so well, as they don’t elongate the songs, but they leave you wanting more.
With that in mind, “Manic Street Creatures” hurtles into your eardrums at one hell of a pace, and is probably my favourite track, as it’s 97 seconds of unadulterated chaos. I’m sure that “You Fucking Rat” must be aimed as someone they dislike, and they finish how they started with a mighty venom filled “fuck off” at the end of “B.I.F.F.O”.
