Eulogies: No Apologies Need Posted March 19, 2022 By RyanAdams_NRT, Staff Reviewer
What You Need To Know
Eulogies is Wolves At The Gate's sixth full-length album in partnership with Solid State Records. The Ohio-based metalcore band is known for their particularly bold and clear biblical messages in their intense music.
What It Sounds Like
Wolves At The Gate began their career with a more melodic hardcore sound and have developed a more consistent metalcore-influenced sound. Their last record, Eclipse, leaned more into the metalcore genre. Eulogies does an excellent job of calling back to their hardcore roots on some songs while expertly creating anthemic metalcore songs that fans new and old will love.
The vocal duties are shared, between Steve Cobucci primarily on cleans and Nick Detty primarily on screams, with a well-balanced amount of overlap thanks to the impressive variety and range from both vocalists. The music is at some of its best, yet, too. Joey Alarcon and Ben Summers' guitar work are fantastic, playing off of Abishai Collingsworth's commanding drumming. You'll hear crushing breakdowns, gritty screams, and anthemic choruses throughout.
Spiritual Highlights
Wolves At The Gate are heralds of the Gospel with their music, as intense as it is. And although the songwriting on Eulogies is great, fans who expect the hymn-like lyrics from earlier works won't find the same kind of writing. Don't get me wrong though, the songwriting is easily some of the best in the Christian metal scene.
In classic Wolves At The Gate style, the closing track ("Silent Anthem") presents a potently clear picture of the Gospel, repeatedly proclaiming "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!" Other songs of surrender are easily found, such as "White Flag," crying out "Feel the rain that washеs over/All the guilt that I had shoulderеd/Raise the white flag for my life."
Eulogies also tackles modern issues, such as political strive, through a biblical lens, like in "Stop The Bleeding." Pride is condemned and surrendered wholly in "Deadweight." Ultimately, throughout the record, powerful hope and biblical love are delivered time and time again; something expected from the band.
Best Song:
Wolves At The Gate are very consistent in their music; consistently crafting powerful songs of life and hope. For fans of the band's older music, I recommend "Weight of Glory." It is a wild and relentless track (nearly no clean vocals), one of the heaviest the band has made, and has similar songwriting to early tracks, too.
For fans of modern metalcore, the title track "Eulogies" exemplifies both their modern influences and the melodic side of the band. The drumming from Abishai is definitely a highlight, too, as the band is typically drum-heavy, but his talents shine on this song. With an excellent layer of piano, Steve's alluring singing, and Nick's strong screams, the song is one of their best.
Some of the most impressive performances are heard, especially on "Embracing Accusation" and the thrasher "Weight of Glory;" Steve Cobucci's melodic singing on the former and Nick Detty's ferocious screaming on the latter have never sounded better.
Wolves At The Gate's current line-up is possibly the peak of their talent thus far, with every song deserving of its place and attention. Eulogies sets the bar high for metalcore bands and proves that Wolves At The Gate are experts at their craft, with many more songs of biblical hope in the future.
