FRESHLY BAKED: PACK OF WOLVES

In "Freshly Baked," we feature promising young bands or bands that are otherwise lacking the attention we think they deserve.

by Van Damned (ATX)

Austin's Red River prowlers, Pack of Wolves, got a recent 'cake mention not too long ago opening for Skeletonwitch, but they deserve all the attention they can get. Hot off a massive showing at South by Southwest this year debuting material off their brutal, vinyl-only LP, Betrayer (Arclight), Pack of Wolves are back at work writing material for the follow-up and I've got a pretty good feeling it'll be a winner. Listen to "The Here and Now," the opening track on Betrayer, for some serious, in-your-face Texas deathgroove.

Listen: Pack of Wolves - "The Here and Now" [MP3]

Pack of Wolves adeptly meld the aggro-chug of Venom, hardcore's dissonance and vitriol, Maiden-esque, dual-guitar histrionics, Pantera's groove and the occasional, well-placed D-beat or breakdown, displaying an extensive knowledge of all the best parts of extreme music. Vocalist/guitarist Trey Ramirez (ex-At All Cost) does a pretty good Tomas Lindberg: hoarse and throaty, with decent mid-to-low growls. Shred-factor is low, but Ramirez and guitarist Tyson Swindell (ex-Games and Theory) have an easy rapport with each other; their double-teamed riffs are both plentiful and memorable. Bassist Alex Padron and drummer Adrian Carrillo (ex-Games and Theory) hold down a crushing, lock-step rhythm section. These guys deserve national coverage, pronto!

Official video for "Concession" after the jump.