Review by Saxy S for Bad Wolves - Dear Monsters (2021)

I never would have guessed four years ago that I would be talking about a Bad Wolves album. My introduction to this band was their god awful cover of the Cranberries "Zombie" in 2018, and I felt I had every right to steer clear of these Five Finger Death Punch wannabe edgelords. Well the time has come, and it seems like it may have been at a decent time as Tommy Vext is out as primary vocalist. Their replacement is frontman of deathcore act The Acacia Strain, Daniel Laskiewicz. 

And while Daniel is significantly more impactful on the microphone, it does not change the fact that this is still a Bad Wolves album. This group has a horrendous sounding mix; the compression in the breakdowns to songs like "Classical" and "On The Case" sound like liquid ass. I had a similar problem this year with Spiritbox, but that group managed to salvage the radio friendly compression by having very sticky refrains. Bad Wolves has good refrains, probably the best in the entire discography, but they are nowhere near as plentiful as Spiritbox. "Wildfire", "Gone" and "House of Cards" are good, but "Springfield Summer" and "Classical" are quite forgettable. And that's before you even get into the cringe on "Comatose". Text abbreviations? 🤢; I didn't know I could hate anything more than "Zombie", but here we are!

The compositions are fine, I guess. They are pretty predictable since this is radio rock/metal, and the promo singles "Lifeline" and "If Tomorrow Never Comes" are adequate. The biggest problem with Dear Monsters is that is the entire formula for all twelve tracks. Some songs are heavier, some songs are softer acoustic ballads like the closer "In The Middle". But these differences are all surface level. I don't like using the term "butt rock", but if any band fit into that mold, it would be Bad Wolves. It's super generic, the mixing is hot garbage, and the growing maturity in the lyrics may be commendable, and the new vocalist is an upgrade, it does not hide fact that most people who are going to enjoy Dear Monsters are never going to hear it. Instead, it'll be "get out those Monster EnergyTM and lets punch some drywall, YEAHHHHHHHH!!!" as Kyle blasts "On The Case". It'll have it's audience, but the only "Monster" I'll be is to this bands fanbase.