Welsh metal five-piece When We Were Wolves are back with their second EP, Heartless. After a successful debut in 2013 with their EP The More Things Change, The More We Stay The Same, they are hoping to top their first record by melting even more faces and bursting even more ear drums.
The EP opens with ‘Dying on the Inside’, an unrelenting, fast-paced medley of metal riffs and rich vocals that introduce the amazing tone of vocalist Mitch Bock’s voice without losing any of that rock grit; think A Day To Remember’s Jeremy McKinnon alongside heavy metal riffs. The EP moves onto ‘The Devil You Know’, which is a great example of a typical metal guitar opening. When We Were Wolves have clearly explored their genre well, with this track showing that they know exactly what their audience want to hear, and if it’s metal they want, it’s metal they’ll get. While the rest of the record is set firmly within the barriers of classic heavy metal, ‘Blind’ introduces a little distortion and creates a sound more Slipknot-esque, refreshing the listener with a different nu-metal type of track. The technicality of the band is really exposed by penultimate track ‘Confession’, which has a melodic guitar riff so remarkably strong that it lifts right out of the song and could stand alone as an instrumental while still captivating an audience. The EP’s final title track is undoubtedly its stand-out song, with an epic introduction that really opens the band up, vulnerable and exposed, to the listener. The vocal performance on ‘Heartless’ is impressive, showing the varied tone and range capabilities of a truly talented singer.
When the final track treats us to such an accomplished vocal performance, it leaves us thinking what a shame it is that we weren’t shown this side to the band much earlier in the EP. While When We Were Wolves are known for their heavy, raw metal music, there is no reason why they wouldn’t benefit from creating more of a balance between screaming and singing to show everything they are capable of.
