Alpha Wolf take a bite out of heavy music scene politics with 'Creep'

Alpha Wolf have a very big chip on their shoulders as they wear their cold hearts on their sleeves with new single, 'Creep.'

Following the release of the mental 'Akudama' in June last month, new belter 'Creep' sees Alpha Wolf holding nothing back, fitting into the vein of their previous single. It's the band going two-for-two as the band mosh head first towards their second record, 'a quiet place to die,' which is out September 25th via Greyscale and SharpTone Records.

With chugging riffs and callous panic chords that could bench press sheer fucking mountains, plus Alpha Wolf's usual love of a good breakdown and some higher-octave whammy pedal action, it's an extremely on-brand track for the Australian quintet. But a very good one at that! Though, if anything, this is vocalist Lochie Keogh and drummer Mitchell Fogarty's song; a song where both really shine. (That also doesn't mean that guitarists Sabian Lynch and Scottie Simpson and bassist John Arnold don't turn it up. On the contrary, they most certainly do.)

Mitch's displaced rhythms and choppy drum grooves zap this mean-as-fuck track to life, swiftly moving it a brisk and heated pace. Even though it's a shorter track for the group - sliding just under three-minutes - 'Creep' feels like it flies by in an instance; their drummers tight foot and hand work and indomitable beats being a big reason as to why that is. You can really tell that the new members have had real, meaningful songwriting contributions to this new album as opposed to last year's (still) really quite solid 'Fault' EP, which was already written prior to both new members joining.

As for the Alpha Wolf vocalist, and like all of their finest tracks, Lochie spits pure venom and bitterness with his screams and words. It's possibly the best he's sounded yet behind the mic. There's obviously no shortage of angry, personal diss tracks in metalcore: songs written about people that we'll never ever meet but people who we are told over chugs and breakdowns are shit human beings nonetheless without any other context on the matter. Yet 'Creep' is one of the few where it feels... realized and legitimate. It's all in the songs name: about the "creeps" of the heavy music world who would rather sell out their values and morals, betray their friends and others trust in them, just to work with shady individuals who will help elevate their own platform and status within the scene. Not the abusers, just their staunch buddies and defenders. The really poignant thing about the track is that you can take a single look around the Australian heavy music scene and see exactly what 'Creep' is addressing happening right before our eyes. I nor Alpha Wolf need even name names: high chances are you already thought of particular bands immediately.

As the Alpha Wolf frontman himself bluntly put it in a recent presser:

"People don't care about you, just the optics. Heavy bands are so desperate to get their music out they'd play with fucking Hitler himself if it got them in front of a crowd. I've seen this wilful ignorance in everyone from promoters to friends to label mates. In the face of abuse, sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia our breakdowns Don't. Mean. Shit. So stop putting yourself on the pedestal."

You can also see this core ideal espoused in the song's cleverly-worded and equally hectic callout moment later on, which I'll copy in below:

"So what’s the price for a counterfeit soul? An opportunity to play some fucking 1’s and 0’s. Metalcore snitches. I’m not religious but I know a double cross when I see one. So what the fuck is up?"

Brutal. Lochie's vocal performance on 'Creep' sounds genuinely exasperated about such spineless cowards; his vocal performance actually sounds fully fed-up with those who'd forgo their own values in order to play breakdowns and spin kick on-stage to larger audiences. And that's the biggest difference in why and how this latest single it hits so goddamn hard. In fact, it's quite concerning just how rampant the topic of this new Alpha Wolf track is these days, nationally and internationally.

I mean, ask yourself this: how many times have you seen members of certain bands, big or small, continually having controversies or various allegations brought up against them, year after year, and yet they're still in bands, still have huge followings, still work closely with other artists and labels, and are still appearing on big tours? Just some food for thought, guys.

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