Video Premiere: Horned Wolf – “Become Like They Are”
Perhaps you haven’t heard of Lawrence, Kansas’s Horned Wolf. I certainly hadn’t. By the end of this blurb, however, you, too, will be eagerly awaiting their debut LP, which drops later this year.
Horned Wolf is hard to pin down. There’s some hardcore, some The Silver-esque trad metal, some skramz, some melodeath riffage. But this single is more than the sum of its parts, a heavy-duty fusion anchored by Sav MangelsDorf’s soaring vocals. Their clean vocals, in particular, glide above the melody, buoyed by ecstatic guitar and gentler melodic passages. I’m typically cleans-averse (we’ll put it this way—you won’t find me jamming David Draiman’s “Sound of Silence” anytime soon), but MangelsDorf does it right, careening from fried shrieks to soulful layered passages.
“Become Like They Are” is a constant ebb and flow between moments of levity and moments of ecstasy. The band cites an unusual mix of influences on this song, among them In Flames, Kate Bush (fuck yeah), and Lorna Shore. This list would seem surprising were it not for the way Horned Wolf gives each layer space, joining each passage without a second wasted. Says the band:
The quintet share a positive message of inclusivity through their music. Horned Wolf is made up of gay, straight, and non binary [sic] members… “Become Like They Are” packs a punch with driving rhythms, powerful harsh vocals and soaring cleans. Playing with dynamics, Horned Wolf combines high energy sections with slower dramatic instrumentation and more intimate, emotional parts . Accompanied by dark, haunting imagery, the new video offers thrilling visual accompaniment to the music.
Convinced yet? Roll the tape:
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“Become Like They Are” is out today on Bandcamp via independent release.
