After releasing a powerful EP in 2011, Wolves At The Gate didn’t waste any time before starting work on their first full-length album, Captors, which is due out on July 3. Their first release, We Are The Ones, stood out in the post-hardcore genre with its melodic guitar parts and hugely enjoyable clean vocals, giving me high hopes for the album.
The first song, “The Harvest” starts with an epic intro, crowd chants, and a powerful drum part. This continues where the EP left off with melodic guitar parts and excellent clean vocals carrying the music. This complete satisfaction doesn’t last, however, and after getting through the first four or five songs, Captors starts to become a little bit boring.
The band uses the same formula in every song and this becomes monotonous. Tracks begin with a slow intro, progressing into cleans and then screams. This isn’t an overly bad formula to go with, but in an 11 track album it might not be the best idea to use it for all of them. I’m not saying every track needs to be unique, but artists need to be able to make several songs stand out from the others. What I noticed after going through the album multiple times was that I could not distinguish one song from another. They all sound the same because of the pattern being used. The tracks might be well put together individually, but you can’t say this about the work as a whole. The overall flow of the album is a bit lumpy, with the songs starting and finishing softly but with no smooth transition between them. Sometimes you get the feeling that it will never end. Despite all the negatives mentioned above, the album is still a pretty good listen. Everybody will be able to find their favourite song or favourite guitar part on it, with mini-solos in the background of almost every song. This sets the band apart from most post-hardcore bands in the scene. Not to mention the last song, which is the perfect way to close out an album with a delicate acoustic intro and clean vocals. Although this review focuses mainly on the flaws of the album, there are many positives and even people who are not fans of the genre can easily get sucked into the music. Overall, it’s enjoyable, but sadly, the energy and flow from their first release hasn’t been carried over. In my opinion, it would have been better if they cut out some tracks and released this as an EP instead.
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