In under 2 years, Bad Wolves went from a curious supergroup project that I was following after the quick drama split of Tommy Vext and Westfield Massacre, to being one of the biggest bands in Hard Rock/Metal. Just like that. And here we are with a 2nd album!

I’m sure many fans were somewhat hesitant about the follow up to 2018’s “Disobey” due to the mainstream success of “Zombie” and “Hear Me Now”; Thinking the band would likely just follow that with more mainstream radio rock sound. Thankfully, I’m here to tell you that that is not the case. Instead, the heavy songs are even heavier, and the will-likely-be-hits are as good as the 1st round.

I can already hear it though, people will call “Sober” a Nickelback song. I won’t deny that it does have that vibe completely. Tommy Vext has a great voice, and not that scratchy whine of Chad in their ballads. Guaranteed it’ll be a massive hit soon. “Killing Me Slowly” has already been released as a single, and it’s another quite obvious one. Also a Nickelback meets Five Finger Death Punch combination, and still better than both. I know these likely aren’t selling points to metalheads, but you can handle a couple singles within a bunch of heavy stuff, right?

“Better Off This Way” I also envision as a single, and if so, I like it better than the 2 mentioned above. Same with “Back in the Days”, which has more in common with Howard Jones-era Killswitch Engage.

Overall, it’s pretty much half and half. There’s plenty of new ass beaters on here, along with a more refined alternative rock sound than the 1st album. There are NO cover songs here. “Zombie” may have given them the exposure, but they are more than good enough on their own, and this is the album that will continue forging their path.

Again, this may be a new band. But it is not a brand new set of musicians. These guys collectively paid their dues the last 20 odd years being road dogs. They already had careers before this, and for them to finally have some success… it’s refreshing. They deserve it. While their sound isn’t necessarily anything new, it’s better than most of what makes it onto the airwaves.

No sophomore slump, but not a masterpiece. Just really damn good.

Rating? 4/5

Reviewed by Marcus Miller

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