Wolfbrigade – Anti-Tank Dogs Review

Fast Rites: because sometimes brevity is fundamental

The kings of d-beat are back, baby…

…albeit for just a quick moment. This three-song EP is the band’s first release since 2019, which wasn’t all that long ago, and yet seems like a lifetime. (What? Did something happen between now and then?) Of course, this is Wolfbrigade, and they’ve been a crust-punk steamroller for more than a quarter century now, so you know what to expect, and what you get is exactly what you want.

Anti-Tank Dogs is a three-song EP, twelve minutes of fiery and furious hardcore, Motörhead meets Discharge in all the best ways possible. From the opening flurry of Tommy Storback’s drums, the title track barrels forth with all the power and subtlety of the tank those dogs are so strongly against. Micke’s industrial-strength bellow blares out the simple refrain, an instant hook atop Norberg and Rydbjar’s typically catchy punk riffs, and there’s even a post-bridge moment of almost gore-y gurgled vocals, a rare novelty for a band that has made a career out of quality consistency. “Brain-Ruler” follows suit, another stronger d-beater, driven by Storback’s seemingly limitless energy. But for all the signature Wolfbrigad-ian greatness in those two tracks, it’s the b-side of this seven-inch that truly shines, the “Orgasmatron”-esque “Necronomium.” A moody midtempo stomper, that one has a strength and a pulse belied by its relatively restrained pace, and the fact that it’s a sonic outlier and one that trumps the rollicking rage of the tracks before it is further testament to its intensity.

And then it’s over, just a quick tease, and — not to sound too greedy — it’s hopefully one that’s indicative of a new album on the horizon. All Wolfbrigade is good Wolfbrigade, and more Wolfbrigade is certainly welcome. For now, it’s just these three songs, but they’re great ones, and I’ll certainly be grateful because… well… the kings of d-beat are back, baby…

Buy it on Bandcamp, or from Armageddon, or from Agipunk.