Formed from the ashes of various half-remembered rock acts such as Amulet and JR Ewing, Norwegians Wolves Like Us are back with another selection of distinctly mainstream flavoured post-hardcore songs that have more than their fair share of crossover appeal. However, the band haven’t forgotten their roots, meaning second album Black Soul Choir (Prosthetic) attempts to straddle the gap between the underground and the commercial, with a fairly high degree of success.

Structured like a less emotive Thrice with perhaps a smidgen of the burly swagger of Kvelertak, Wolves Like Us have plenty of well-written catchy riffs that tear along nicely but rarely threaten to go all out and bring that cathartic release that many of their contemporaries aim for. That makes the likes of ‘Three Poisons’ an exercise in nearly-thereness; solid, pushes all the right buttons but with a sense that something is just slightly lacking.

However, what the band may lack for in restless energy, they more than make up for in catchy vocal hooks that lend the songs an inherently listenable quality, such as the massive sounding ‘I Don’t Need to be Forgiven.’ This is where the more alt-rock aspects of the band’s sound are pushed to the forefront and you could easily imagine a large festival crowd singing their hearts out to the song. It’s just that nagging feeling that the band are playing it safe in the hope of attracting a wider audience that stifles the enjoyment somewhat, although having said that, the doomy eight minute closer ‘Thanatos Wins Again’ restores hopes that this is a mere learning curve, and that the future’s bright for this pack of wolves. Might be an idea to ditch the Charles Bukowski and Elizabeth Carter lyrical themes though guys.

6.5/10

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JAMES CONWAY