Album Review: Werewolves – My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me (Prosthetic Records)

They’re back. The punishingly heavy Australian death metal trio that is Werewolves, made up of members of Psycroptic, The Berzerker, The Antichrist Imperium and more, return with their fourth full-length album. Called ‘My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me’, this new beast will be unleashed on August 11th, 2023, via Prosthetic Records.

In a shock move, Werewolves have transformed into something brand-new. Combining elements of grunge, emo, and pop punk. Who would have thought they had it in them?

Only f**king kidding, this is Werewolves and they do one thing and one thing alone, which is smash heads, hearts, and souls. They’re back, as furious, and feral as always, delivering an album that is heavy enough to send you into a catatonic state. If you have a deep love for this band’s inherent and straight-forward savagery, you’re going to feel right at home here, and who doesn’t? Werewolves are the epitome of carnage and we love them for it.

So, what do we have here? A nine-track explosion of feral fists as Under the Ground begins the album off akin to a violent assault. How a track this fast and this heavy can sound so ‘put together’ is simply staggering, but that’s Werewolves for you.

The chaos continues into a comically intense title track. Comical because no band should be capable of sounding this heavy. Yet, this is the way it is and it’s impossible to not enjoy such a high level of extreme ruthlessness. Especially when Bring to Me the Kill is such a bloody and visceral listen, and Brace for Impact has the power to break bones. The latter is particularly dark sounding too, the vocals getting really guttural.

How’s about Destroyer of Worlds for something a bit different from Werewolves though? A more focused sounding Werewolves that shows it’s not all about blistering carnage, while still being undeniably heavy with the gloomy and doom-tinged tone that permeates the entirety of this track.

It’s back to manic and monstrous speed with Neanderhell and I Hate Therefore I Am afterwards though. The guitars are like buzzsaws through the brain matter, all while the drums pulverise it into mush. Followed then by the brash brutality of I Knew Nothing Then and I Know Less Now. A scathing head-banger if there ever was one. Mind you, if you try to head-bang to this track, you’re going to end up with whiplash.

Music this extreme needs an end-point before the senses become completely desensitised to it, and happily Werewolves know exactly when to step back and leave us be. Sure, they might have left us a broken and bloody mess, but they stepping back… for now. The finale of the album is Do Not Hold Me Back, and it is f**king mean. We might sound like a broken record here, but to hell with it, Werewolves are so bloody heavy and this closing track is the personification of who they are and what they do.

The whole album is the perfect example of listenable and lovable extreme metal. Nobody does it better and with My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me, Werewolves have ensured no-one is taking their crown any time soon.

Werewolves – My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me Track Listing:

1. Under The Ground
2. My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me
3. Bring To Me the Kill
4. Brace For Impact
5. Destroyer Of Worlds
6. Neanderhell
7. I Hate Therefore I Am
8. I Knew Nothing Then and I Know Less Now
9. Do Not Hold Me Back

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