Album Review

I think this was the first release from Strikefirst, a Facedown Records subsidiary; I‘m not entirely positive, but either way the only thing wrong with this EP is that it‘s merely that: an EP. The sonics are miles better than Sinai‘s full-length When Breath Escapes, which was a tremendous album marred by muddy production that declawed most of the huge riffs. Wolves is the initial batch of ruckus that caught the ear of Jason Dunn at Facedown, who snapped them up and decided to re-release these songs with better production and, I believe, new artwork (which, by the way, is intriguing). The liner note is nothing special: a black and white crowd shot with the lyrics superimposed over top, but I guess you gotta cut costs somewhere.

A paltry four tracks, Wolves screams out of the gate with ‘Of A Man‘, which was reincarnated later on for When Breath Escapes, but as previously stated, it sounds much better here; the guitar sound, from technical fretting to immensely heavy riffs, is captured perfectly, with the vocal and background vocals placed right up front, giving the impression of vocalist C.J. Alderson leaning off a stage right into your grille, and it just gets better with the fuzzed-out intro to the title track, which reminds me - oddly - of Eighteen Visions. When the verse kicks in, it‘s got that same really, really heavy crunch of 18V‘s guitar sound. The drums are spastic on this song, but again the clear production makes it all mesh together nicely, and then after the break it‘s back to the Eighteen Visions-esque, grinding attack. And check out the lyrics: "age old traditions are what you hold close to your heart/old testament, old covenant is what you preach/that broke when the body of Christ broke/did you forget, or did you just skip through that part?"

The third track, ‘The Religious Burden of Perfection‘, brings it with the European-style death metal runs and a completely blast-beat-obsessed breakdown over a lyrical attack on worldly Christians who don‘t get the point.‘On/Off Switch‘ ends the proceedings with an almost electronic-sounding finger-tapping guitar display and showcases Alderson, one of the best vocalists in the underground, screaming full-throttle, utilizing a deep death growl and a mid-range howl, and then - surprise, surprise - some clean singing, at which he‘s quite competent, in the manner of Unearth. California‘s Sinai Beach are unabashedly Christian in their message, and it‘s a testament to their skill both here and on their full-length (and, to be sure, their live show) that they‘re shooting up fast in the ranks. The new west coast metal is alive and well.

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