With the use of snowflake emojis and relatively wordless social media posts as pre-warning, Alpha Wolf have now opened the gates to their new chapter: Fault. Alpha Wolf will have the international support of SharpTone Records along with Greyscale Records in Australia when they bring Fault to the world on 19th April.
Fault is the first full release from the Melbourne quintet since Mono, and will include previously released single “No Name”, as well as brand new track “Sub-Zero”. The fresh song dropped on Tuesday along with a music video directed and edited by Colin Jeffs. And it’s as icy cold as you’d expect from the title, with listeners being smashed by insults from the get-go. When the fat riffage joins in with the vocal barrage, you might start to think ‘Maybe they weren’t exaggerating when they tweeted this’:
Weird flex but, we’re releasing our heaviest ever song tomorrow.
— Alpha Wolf (@AlphaWolfCVLT) March 18, 2019
Taking time with “Sub-Zero”, along with icicle sharp angles, it’s so sonically suffocating that it feels like you’re wading through it. We’re up close and personal with someone presenting themselves as someone they’re not, and the all-surrounding experience takes on an experience of being beaten up.
It’s signature Alpha Wolf that we’ve come to expect, with Lochie Keogh at the helm; like a pied piper of dense riffs and bending multi-layered moments of what-the-fuckery. Most notably, it’s the first time an Alpha Wolf song has tied into the wolf factor, using it as another assertion of dominance through the song.
“Ghost of you, leave me be”
Though hefty ‘fuck you’ strength is apparent throughout “Sub-Zero”, reading between the lines presents something slightly different. A pervading suffocation threads through the track, where they can’t shake the way in which they’re haunted by someone they have distaste for. Where raging against the two-faced ‘ghost’ hasn’t worked to rid them of the other, they’re calling for the bridges to be forcibly broken. An ultimatum and reverse snowy drum ending comes across to me like a statement of ‘I’m waiting’.
“Sub-Zero” is a strong invitation to take in Fault when it lands next month! I’m personally intrigued to see how the theme of fault comes into the release. Guitarist Sabian Lynch was quoted in the press release as saying “Fault is our way of opening up, and doing our best to show that it’s okay to mess up, it’s okay to fail, it’s okay to make mistakes, as long as we can find ways grow from it. We always want to be honest with our songwriting, and these songs showcase a realisation within ourselves, thus creating the best music we’ve ever been a part of.”
Pre-order it here and watch the video via YouTube below. You can also catch it live when Alpha Wolf tour Australia from 24th May to 1st June, with Daybreak and Mirrors. Tickets available now!
