Wolfbrigade, somehow, have been going for 30 years now. Rather than tap out and accept the company gold watch, however, they just keep on going and going and going like some kind of snaggletoothed, rat-furred Energiser Bunny. ‘Hostile Wasteland’ represents a blast from the past: the last four tracks the band committed to tape under their previous moniker, Wolfpack. Opener ‘Day After Day’ serves up a dirty dollop of the band’s time-honoured crusty punk, while elsewhere the band deliver gloomy melodies, ripping solos and, in ‘Global Lunacy’ a brilliantly lumpy lollop that’s equal parts Amebix, Entombed and 90s Sepultura. The recording packs an enjoyably warts-and-all punch, and a special shout out is owed to the singer’s gruesomely phlegm-clotted vocals – seriously, someone PLEASE give this guy a lozenge! All in all it’s a welcome revisitation, and a more than worthy addition to the band’s considerable armoury.
