Artist: Wolfbastard
Title: Satanic Scum Punks
Type: Album
Label: Apocalyptic Witchcraft (Release Date 13th March 2026)
If you are unaware of the choice delights that are Wolfbastard, then imagine a tramp crawling out from under some debris, mostly empty bottle of Buckfast in their hand, and launching into some verbal assault on the unseen spectres surrounding them. Or just go and see them live. Either works.
Joking aside, Wolfbastard really are one of the great delights of the UK underground; equally at home on a black metal bill, or something far more varied (last time I saw them it was between a bunch of vampires and a power metal band) they are a law unto themselves and all the better for that. I kind of randomly stumbled on them when their debut came out and I bought it just on spec and have been with them ever since.
So what is this racket? Well this is their…*counts on grubby fingers* fourth album and it sounds pretty much like the title suggests. And if you want pedigree, two thirds of them, Dez and Dave (guitars/vocals and drums respectively) are also in the excellent black metal outfit Burial.
Opener ‘It’s Fucking Dark’ has that slow intro, a little melody, a hidden smile as to what it might turn into…..a scream and suddenly this all goes headlong into a rush of blackened punk. Misfits speed, sharp guitars, absolutely furious vocals and somehow their magic makes that title refrain sound both hilarious and absolutely, venomously serious. That is the magic of Wolfbastard; they might be having a laugh but you never know how close they are to seriously fucking you up, when they will turn and savage you – when you see them live with Si the bassist staring wildly at the crowd, howling those backing vocals its bloody terrifying to be honest. And on record somehow, somehow they translate it just into the sonic assault.
The title track up next has a glorious raw to the bone black metal riff, a punk ‘n’ roll bounce demolished by the Mancunian howls of Dez and you have to believe that they will fuck up your town. Wolfbastard throw every bit of nasty intent into this. Every drop of hate, The drums are just relentless, maniacal machine guns (just like they are live) that seem to push everything before them. Short, sharp broken bottle to the face….
It’s insane. I don’t just mean the unhinged lyrics and the bestial anger, but the way it just makes me grin like it’s me who has lost their mind. Maybe it is. I mean who like this kind of stuff? Well, bloody loads of people. ‘Let The Bastards Burn’ is what happens when you just lose all patience with the world, a hurtling ball of light speed notes and riffs that is catchy as hell let loose with the clap.
There is real malice in here too. Listen to ‘F-O-T-D’ and pick out the lyrics. That’s some anger in there, a genuine nasty edge. Feral. And there’s Satan. ‘Blood On Steel’ is a dark, rich, violent stream of satanic black metal with a thick, filthy riff. ‘Drink For Hell’ is pure Wolfbastard, reeking of booze and an uncaring nihilistic surge towards damnation and ragging anyone with them who gets in their way and topped off with the shouted chorus that could cause a riot live.
Now there is little variation in speed here, but that works perfectly for this album: Blast for Satan, drive straight at them and see who gets out of the way. But the variation in the balance between the black metal, for example ‘Fuck The Bastards’, and the punk like ‘It’s Fucking Dark’ is genuinely deftly handled, and also never make the mistake of thinking this is just one featureless blast. These are fantastic songs.
Satanic Scum Punks is a perfectly timed half hour of satanic anarchy. They reek of booze, they howl like rabid stray dogs and they spit their invective over everyone. They roll around in the muck and come up grinning with a fistful of shockingly excellent songs they pulled from somewhere I’d rather not know. Spike knuckled punk and filthy raw black metal rolled into one ball of utter filth.
Glorious. Absolutely bloody glorious. Drink fucking beer, hail fucking Satan indeed….
Gizmo
Satanic Scum Punks | Wolfbastard | Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings
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