WOLFBRIGADE – HOWL FROM UNDERGROUND (Album Review)
Updated: Oct 16
Release date: 9 October 2026
Record label: Metal Blade Records
The Riff Doctor's Score: (8/10)
RRRRRRRRRR
Diagnosis
Thirty years of fury, and Sweden's crust punk veterans are still absolutely raging.
Best Tracks: Doomrunner, Cold War Bootlicker, Cosmic Meatgrinder
Deep Cuts: Seeking Scapegoats, Headhunting, Tangled Steel Mask
The Full Review
For over three decades, Wolfbrigade have been kicking up an almighty racket with their unmistakable mixture of crust punk, hardcore, d-beat and death metal, and their latest offering, Howl From Underground, proves they've still got plenty of venom left in the tank. Following 2024's excellent Life Knife Death, the band have returned with twelve tracks of furious, politically charged aggression, and while they're hardly reinventing themselves, there's something incredibly satisfying about hearing a group this far into their career sounding so gloriously pissed off.
One thing that immediately stands out is just how enormous this record sounds. Having spent the last decade handling production duties themselves, Wolfbrigade brought in Lawrence Mackrory, whose previous credits include Meshuggah, Bloodbath and Katatonia, to give things a slightly different approach. The result is a thicker, heavier and more muscular sound that still manages to retain the rawness that makes Wolfbrigade so appealing in the first place.
The guitars sound absolutely filthy, the bass has a tasty distorted rumble underneath everything, and Dadde Stark's relentless drumming practically drives the whole thing into the ground. It's an interesting balance between modern metal production and old-school punk attitude, and for the most part, it works brilliantly.
Opening track "Caveman Motherfuck" wastes absolutely no time getting stuck in. There's a brief moment of anticipation before the guitars come charging forward and the drums kick everything into overdrive. It's aggressive, uncompromising and wonderfully primitive, sounding like Motörhead having a nasty row with Discharge. Frontman Micke Dahl sounds as rough and imposing as ever, barking his way through the chaos with a vocal delivery that sits somewhere between a hardcore punk snarl and a death metal growl.
"Doomrunner" follows in similarly ferocious fashion, but there's a surprisingly catchy quality to the guitar work, with flashes of melody buried beneath the relentless d-beat assault. It's one of those tracks that manages to be absolutely savage while still getting its hooks into you. The title track, "Howl From Underground" is another particularly strong moment, capturing pretty much everything Wolfbrigade have stood for throughout their career. It's fast, confrontational and full of that unmistakable rebellious spirit, while "Born to Rot" introduces a slightly more rock 'n' roll swagger.
"Cold War Bootlicker" is another standout, combining razor-sharp riffs with an atmosphere of political hostility. The guitars have an almost blackened edge in places, while the overall arrangement feels particularly tense. It's arguably one of the catchiest tracks on the album, although catchy in Wolfbrigade's world still means being repeatedly battered around the head with a very large hammer.
The song also delivers some of the album's most interesting lyrical moments, particularly the image of a "Two headed dog" and the wonderfully grotesque line "Twist the flesh / And stitch the clone". It's a clever way of illustrating the band's criticism of political systems that present themselves as opposites while ultimately demanding the same obedience. The lyrics are relatively simple, but that works in their favour.
Further along the album, "Cosmic Meatgrinder" leans into the band's Swedish death metal influences, delivering the sort of buzzsaw guitar attack that wouldn't sound out of place on an early Dismember record. Meanwhile, "Headhunting" is pure, filthy hardcore aggression, propelled forward by an infectious gallop and cacophonous drums.
That's not to say the album is perfect, though. As much as I love Wolfbrigade's relentless aggression, there are moments where some of the songs start to sound a little too similar, especially towards the second half. A bit more variety, like the darker, more melodic moments on "When Dogs Cry", wouldn't have hurt. The production sounds absolutely massive, but I do think some of that raw, chaotic charm from their earlier material gets lost along the way. Micke Dahl's vocals are as fierce as ever, although a little more variation would help bring some of the lyrics to life. Still, these are pretty minor complaints when the band sounds this fired up, and let's face it, nobody listens to Wolfbrigade expecting them to take it easy.
Ultimately, Wolfbrigade haven't reinvented the wheel with Howl From Underground, but they have strapped a load of explosives to it and sent it hurtling down a hill. It's a vicious, wonderfully abrasive record that combines the ferocity of old-school Scandinavian crust punk with the muscular riffing of Swedish death metal and the reckless rock 'n' roll attitude of Motörhead. There's enough melody and atmosphere scattered throughout to keep things interesting, even if the relentless aggression occasionally works against it.
Howl From Underground might not convert anyone who doesn't already appreciate their particular brand of musical violence, but for those of us who enjoy our punk filthy, our metal heavy and our music delivered with a healthy dose of contempt for the modern world, there's an awful lot to love here. These old wolves still have plenty of bite.
Jack Merry for The Riff Collective
Comments