Hour Of The Wolf - Decompositions (Volume I)
Rating
RIYL
CalabreseThe Misfits
The Nerve Agents
Agent Orange
Release Date
11/09/2010
Label
Think Fast! RecordsTracklist
1. Domestic Wild2. Eat You Alive
3. Spit It Right Back
4. Black Blood Transfusion
5. Death's Coming
6. Wild Man
7. Turn On You
8. You're Through
9. Burn It
10. Fix Me
11. Fall Of The All American
12. Breakin' A Memory
13. I Wanna Be Your Dog
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Decompositions is, outside of being clever word-play, among other things, a testament to Hour of the Wolf’s unwavering commitment to never, ever, release a proper full-length. It is, instead, a compendium largely of the beginnings of one of today’s horror punk standard-bearers. It contains a newly-released track, a handful of covers, and the band’s debut EP Power of the Wolf. As such it is not a must-have release but more of an introduction. That, however, does not stop the disc’s contents from being nothing short of excellent.
The first track is more word-play, “Domestic Wild,” a lyrical nod to George Thorogood, and a prime example of the contents of Decompositions; these would be ferociously guitar-driven punk rock tracks with a fixation on the occult and a preoccupation with delivering some of the best hooks in the genre this side of The Misfits. “Eat You Alive” leans more toward the hardcore end of the spectrum, albeit of course horror-tinged, and brandishes a distinct Motorhead influence.
“Spit It Right Back,” “Black Blood Transfusion,” and “Death’s Coming” continue the trend of huge hooks married with bollocks-heavy guitar riffs, and other tracks like “Wild Man” and “Burn It” are hard-driving rock ’n roll creatures born of sweat and the road. The covers don’t really do too much to add to the overall effect other than showcasing obvious influences, but Hour of the Wolf play them very well and they choose good songs, particular favorites of mine being “Fall of the All-American” by The Nerve Agents and “Breakin’ A Memory” by Kid Dynamite.
On individual merit, Power of the Wolf gets four-and-a-half stars, as it’s easily one of the best horror punk releases to come around in some time. I’m docking the release half a star because I’m not sure there’s really any need for Decompositions’ existence. Perhaps if Think Fast! included the Lewd Acts split tracks and the band laid down another new song or two I’d be a little more forgiving, but the relative brevity of this release and its ultimate non-essential nature have to be accounted for. Nevertheless, Hour of the Wolf is a first-rate punk band in a scene where they are few and far between, and Decompositions, on its most basic level, serves merely to reinforce this.
--Jacob Oliver
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