Wolf Down – “Incite & Conspire” [Album Review]

Dear Wolf Down,

I love your band. I like that you guys are really left-leaning. You even mention red and black flags, which means you must be down with socialism and anarchism. You get me. And you seem to really be aware of a lot of grown-up themes, like corporations and a depreciating environment. You guys really “get it”, you know?

You understand that the real thing that’s rotting away at our earth is all those people who still eat meat and pollute mother earth. I also really love that you’re super aggressive while also sticking to your morals. You don’t see that a lot these days. You guys are so authentic! Compared to everything else that’s out there, you are really challenging all the normals and posers and sheep who have no idea what’s really happening out there, you know?

Not everyone gets it. Just the other day, my friend was saying that you guys are hypocrites of the highest order, because you aggressively feed pseudo-political alt bullshit into a scene that already endorses those ideas. You revel in the fact that as “creatives”, merely putting out art somehow makes up for the fact that you do nothing whatsoever to further the amorphous set of ideologies that are as transitory as your involvement in them. But I know better. I can tell he’s just one of those “apathetic” people that you guys are always talking about. And when he said that your brand of hardcore was just as generic as your leftist politics, I think that really spoke more about his character than your art, you know? He’s always going on about how I should read The Rebel Sell and how “Rust Cohle was right”. I have no idea what he’s blathering about, but I think you’d agree, he’s just a poser.

I have one question: where do I sign up? It seems that you guys are really about resisting these systems (or is it just the system? Please advise), and I would like to know what I can do to change it all. I’m fuzzy on the details of what “resisting” actually entails, and though I looked everywhere on your album, I can’t seem to find any mention of what steps I can take to bring about revolution and resistance. I do notice that you urge us to “become a weapon”, “rise”, and “draw the frontline”. Forgive me, I’m new to all this and your ideas are so progressive. I’m just catching up.

If you could throw me some guidance would be much appreciated. I just signed a subscription with Adbusters, which I think is helping. I also bought the 5-panel hat, that super cool “Counterculture” button, a patch, a sweater, your vinyl, a tape, and several shirts that you guys are selling, because they’re so cool. That way everyone will know that I’m in on the cause, right? I’m so glad you were able to find an equitable source for merch that didn’t torture the planet like the rest of the bands in this scene. Money from my parents well spent!

Keep on the good fight!

Your dedicated fan,
A high schooler’s understanding of the world.

Track Listing

01. Barricade Fever
02. Against The Grain
03. Protect Preserve
04. Invisible War
05. Flames Of Discontent
06. At Daggers Drawn
07. Incite
08. Conspire
09. True Deceivers
10. Torch Of Reason
11. The Fortress

Run Time: 30:55
Release Date: February 5, 2016

Check out the songs “Incite” and “Conspire” here.