Track By Tracks: Werewolves - Die For Us (2024)

1. DIE FOR US:

Matt: There's really very little thought or skill or variation between songs for music haha

Sam: Sometimes you get one of those lucky songs where the lyrics almost write themselves, and this was one of those. I'm taking that obnoxious band-who-hates-their-fans stereotype and pushing it to the limit. I was laughing so hard the entire time I wrote it, I couldn't wait to show Matt and Dave. The rhythms really snap and it sets the tone for the rest of the album with the big chorus, I wanted to do an album of death metal anthems. I couldn't pick out my favorite lyric from this one, but "die for us now/ in this pit/ this crowd is weak/ your town is shit" might be it. And it ends with our best sample yet.

2. BEATEN BACK TO LIFE:

Matt: Had a coffee, gave Sam a title, wrote riffs

Sam: This was one of Matt's song titles, obviously referencing Cannibal Corpse. He gave me a few puns on this album. I was seeing a lot of cynical metal fans writing "cringe" over so much stuff online so my motivation was like "cringe THIS, cunt". I've always hated those people. My motivations got blurry, and I went from attacking them to attacking young people, anyone born after 1990, social media, the stupid, and so on. Just totally lashing out. Really has nothing to do with the song title.

3. FUCK YOU GOT MINE:

Matt: Ran out of coffee, wrote a slow song.

Sam: Think I originally called this one "The Boomer Anthem" but it was a bit too obvious. Also wasn't abusive enough for a band like us. I was surprised with the music originally, this is the first truly mid-pace song we've done. They're either blistering or the one obligatory slow track on the album. It sounded like Six Feet Under to me, I was tempted to just do some weak 'bleurghs' or 'eeeeee's over it. Then I thought well, let's see what one of their songs would sound like if the vocals are in time and about something other than serial killers or zombies. This one's about the housing crisis and how it has highlighted the antisocial nature of a lot of so-called respectable people. Don't worry, I make it pretty metal, I'm not going all Napalm Death or anything. There's a reference to Bestial Warlust's "Vengeance War Til Death" album snuck in there too, anyone who heard that album will probably have a giggle when they hear it.

4. MY HATE IS STRONG:

Matt: Had coffee, wrote riffs

Sam: I ripped off Tricky with the song title, he had a track called 'My Evil is Strong' which is the better song title. I got as close to that as I could. The music sounded like Angelcorpse to me, I enjoyed doing a few Pete Helmkamp "AHHHHH"s in it. The lyrics are about being utterly possessed by hatred to the point of lunacy and wishing violence upon everyone. I remember hearing the second verse and thinking "Not violent enough", so I kind of did an imitation of the Nails track "You Will Never Be One Of Us"...it's probably the only time we've used distortion on the vocals. It's so fucking heavy. Oh, and this is the song where we yanked ROK from Sadistik Exekution out of retirement! We had been in loose contact with him ever since we got him to do artwork for one of our shirts a year or two ago. We asked if he wanted to do a vocal contribution, and he sent back this distorted yell of "FUUUUUUUCK YOUUUUUUUUU" and we were like....not sure if he's telling us to get fucked or not, but it's going in the song.

5. THE COMPANY OF WOLVES:

Matt: More coffee, more riffs

Sam: Anyway lyrics....I've never had much luck being part of groups or teams. It's never worked out for me. Never. Always end up being chosen last, or kicked out, or passed over. Werewolves is the only gathering that has really worked out for me. Anyway I had an axe to grind about that in particular and "The Company of Wolves" has been sitting there waiting to be used as a title for us since forever, so it was time for that. I wanted to extol the virtues of being by yourself, on the outside. It's one of the few serious songs on the album. It's for the loners.

6. SPITTLE-FLECKED RANT:

Matt: Coffee, riffs

Sam: Look, I'm going to let you in on a secret at this point. I know I've worked out the lyrics to a track because I'll read whatever I've written and start laughing hysterically. That was definitely the case with this one. I reckon the first two verses are my best shit ever. I'm taking a shot at one-eyed political supporters AND people who say they don't care about politics, truly having my cake and eating it. The chorus was actually written while in a stone cabin in Switzerland years ago, on a snow trip with a gang of crusty punks. There was no internet and little electricity at that place. We'd ski all day, then drink beers and smoke weed all night and draw and make stuff up. So that chorus was a group effort. That was a crazy time, they'd brought a tattoo gun along and would tattoo each other's faces while wasted. They asked me what tattoo I wanted, and I was like No thanks, I've got no tattoos. They laughed and said they'd hold me down in my sleep and tattoo 'cunt' on my forehead. I knew them well enough to sleep with a wardrobe pushed against the door, fully dressed, my bags packed, and my window unlatched.

7. WE ALL DESERVE TO BE SLAVES:

Matt: Riffs, blast beats, coffee.

Sam: Pretty epic feast of brutality this one, and the second half is probably the most technical we've gotten so far. I like the old-school bands who kick off a song immediately with vocals, so we had a shot at that here. I'm not particularly subtle with the lyrics on this. All these people sucking the ring of leaders famous for throwing every single person around them under the bus? What the fuck is wrong with people? You used to be able to rely on the minimum intelligence required for self-interest, but no-one seems to have that anymore.

8. UNDER A URINAL MOON:

Matt: ......

Sam: This would be one of the more serious songs we've done. Zero laughing in the making of this, except for the songtitle which is another Matt pun special. It's probably as black metal as Werewolves gets particularly now we've got Faustian for all that stuff. I had been listening to a lot of The Lovecraft Sextet and wanted to get my cave-dwelling vampiric black metal thing on a little, and the lyrics reflect that. It's a bit of a "Thing That Should Not Be" song, you know the type...a nameless something that is spawned and described, a no-narrative kinda song. I really like the "pass the hate around" section in the middle, it's one of those rare times I'm not consciously ripping someone else off. The end blast section was probably the most spontaneous bit of the album. I was stuck on what to do, the instrumental rhythm was so straightforward. I kind of did highs with subliminal deeps providing a counterpoint, almost like chanting...I was watching a lot of old The Birthday Party material while trying to write it, particularly the video for 'Nick the Stripper', getting the vibe of a nocturnal carnival gone wrong. Think it turned out rather evil.

9. STAY DOWN:

Sam: "Stay down" is one of those things that sounds super angry when you've got occasion to yell it out, so of course it's perfect for us. It sounds great as a closing track song title as well, like, we've finished assaulting your eardrums for the last half hour, now stay the fuck down. Unfortunately, my inspiration ran out with the title, this is my least favorite one lyrically. Well, apart from the line "take drugs, get fucked, kill everyone". That has to be up there with one of the more Neanderthal things we've included in a song. The main riff is an Angelcorpse-style banger and it goes into a triplet in the second half of the song, which I'm all about. I asked Matt to write a total front-to-back triplet for album number 6 and my god he's delivered. But I'll tell you about that next album.