Around 6 months ago Alpha Wolf announced that they were back in the studio working on new music and fans have been eagerly waiting ever since. Lately there’s been a lot of comments on the band’s social media posts mentioning a sick unreleased song that people saw live at recent shows. Anticipation had been building for a while until last Friday when Alpha Wolf dropped their new single ‘Bring Back The Noise’. A song that lives up to all the hype generated by one of Australia’s top tier metal acts.
‘Bring Back The Noise’ is 2 minutes and 11 seconds of fast paced chaos mixed with Alpha Wolf’s signature brand of guitar squeals and gutturals that we’ve come to fiend for. What’s most interesting about this release is the turntable scratches sprinkled throughout the song. Something I didn’t expect to come from this band and is a bit of an artistic risk. It could’ve easily backfired by sounding corny or out of place but it’s done so well that it’s one of the best aspects of the song. When paired with yelling lyrics like “I don’t give a fuck!”, it almost feels like elements of the song are a subtle homage to that 90’s nu-metal sound that serves as a warm dopamine inducing hit of nostalgia for so many of us. Blending this with a modern metal-core sound makes the track feel fresh and exciting.
The music video sees Alpha Wolf performing in an abandoned warehouse littered with flyers while cutting in between shots of band members walking through the busy streets of an unidentified Japanese city (Tokyo?). Stunning visual effects and animations are used to tie these shots together and it’s what makes this video really stand out. The director Takasuke Kato did a fantastic job. It’s reminiscent of previous Alpha Wolf videos, such as the Akudama video, but takes that style to a whole new level of production. It also appears as if they utilised AI generated animation in a very sophisticated manner. Making it one of the first major music videos I’ve seen incorporate this new technology and the first time I’ve seen AI animation not look like a “work-in-progress”. The end result is very impressive and captivating.
Overall, ‘Bring Back The Noise’ is one of Alpha Wolf’s best songs so far and their strongest release since Akudama. It’s likely to be a staple in their discography years from now and often brought up when people introduce others to this behemoth of a band. If it’s a taste of an upcoming album we are in for something truly special.
Alpha Wolf: Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: Greyscale Records
Category: Single
Country: Australia
Reviewed by Brad Hapke
