WOLFPAC
"Four
Hits From Hell" (Chord Records/Sugar Daddy Records)
Reviewed by Christopher J. Kelter
When this promotional disc was handed to me I was given the warning that it was "Slayer with turntables." Well, it's more about turntables than Slayer, but it's still an apt description. And it has absolutely nothing to do with wrestling.
With funky slap-happy bass, noisy guitar riffs, rock hard beats, and furious rapping Wolfpac trod over modern musical ground with complete disregard for convention.
The production values emphasize vocals over the guitars, samples, and beats. Thus, the sound is more rap than metal, but you haven't heard a rap/metal album with a hard, straightforward, noisy, and distorted guitar in a long time. The vocals aren't your garden variety rap - there is a sinister delivery here that is neither gangsta rap nor anything else you'll hear on the radio. The vocals are rap as though rapping was as common to death metal as guttural growls.
This four track sampler is taken from the band's debut "Somethin' Wicked This Way Comes." Actually, the sampler has a fifth, hidden tracks - Wolfpac covers Digital Underground's delightful "The Humpty Dance." You might hate rap, but "The Humpty Dance" is about as infectious as a song can get; it works in this setting, too, as it shows both the hardcore and funk aspects of the Wolfpac sound.
I won't lie to anyone; this rap/metal thing isn't my most favorite style, but it rocks hard without becoming a slave to the growing rap/metal trend.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2000 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights
reserved.
Revised: 04 Dec 2023 22:19:31 -0500.
