Reviews

With a Stooges-like riff kicking off "Overload," Hour of the Wolf definitely make themselves known on this split EP with Lewd Acts. Everything about this band is interesting; the guitars courtesy of Addison and Hank and most especially, the vocals of Lance, which bring to mind old Bronx. Their tracks were produced with a surprisingly good coat by Bob Hoag, sometime keyboardist of the Ataris. Second track "War Machine" tries too hard to be the Bronx, but it still works, only to a lesser extent. This band definitely has got everything down and tight and it wouldn't surprise me if we ended up hearing much more from them in the future.

Lewd Acts kicks their portion off with "Broken Kids," which sounds like what a lot of screamo bands try to shoot for but don't have the passion or energy to pull off. While at first I was less than impressed with the song, repeated listens give me a new look on not only the song, but the band as a whole. Lewd Acts' material was produced with a strange sense of urgency by Kurt Ballou of Converge. "Shark Bait" is a forty-five second blast which sounds out of place because it just goes by incredibly too fast but they make up for it with the last song, "Glass Act," which sounds like they've been doing they're homework and figuring out how they can adapt it to fit their style.

Overall, the split EP is very good with more points going to Hour of the Wolf for more originality but the only problem anyone might have with this record is its length: a mere 13 minutes. Of course, this may all just be a tease by the bands and the record company, having fans begging to hear more, which is a good ploy. A good introduction to two bands who definitely have more to say.