Richard HolmesSong
Cold War Bootlicker
Artist
Wolfbrigade
Wolfbrigade backstory
Are Wolfbrigade the definitive Swedish d-beat band? Well, you can make a pretty good case for it.
Arriving under the Wolfpack moniker in ’95, they unleashed a crust inferno on A New Dawn Fades one year later, and followed that up with the growling Lycantho Punk in ’97 and Allday Hell in ’99. No Neo Bastards, Wave Of Fear, Riot Bob… with songs like these, the Swedes picked up the baton from Anti Cimex and Driller Killer, and ignited the late 90s with Discharge’s fearsome spirit.
By 2000, they’d changed their name to Wolfbrigade, to avoid associations with a neo nazi prison gang.
And, bar a brief hiatus in the mid-noughties, they’ve remained a byword for rabid, politically charged discore ever since.
Which brings us to their 12th album, Howl From The Underground. Set to be released this autumn, it sees the band swapping their long-term DIY approach for a collaboration with producer Lawrence Mackrory – who’s worked with the likes of Bloodbath and Paradise Lost. And it sees the quintet welcome drummer David ‘Dadde’ Stark back into their ranks, after a decade away.
Cold War Bootlicker is our first taste of that opus.
In the band’s own words
“Cold War Bootlicker is about false opposites. We divide the world into competing camps, but the machinery never changes. Two heads fighting over the same body. Every master speaks a different language of obedience.”
The verdict on Cold War Bootlicker
Like thunder rumbling from apocalyptic skies, Cold War Bootlicker heaps even more dread on dreadful times.
Yes, Wolfbrigade may have swapped a little ferocity for a more honed, metallic sound in recent years, but the result is still immensely powerful. Every chord rings with menace, as Micke Dahl spits vitriol over three fiery minutes, and Stark hammers the living shit out of his kit.
It’s scarily good.
What’s next for Wolfbrigade?
Howl From The Underground will be released on October 9.
Band photo by Therese Öhrvall.