metal

Alpha Wolf

2 festivals played ↓

Melbourne heavyweights central to metalcore's nu-metal turn — detuned bounce, panic chords and vocals that swing between screamed and spat.

Alpha Wolf formed in Melbourne in 2013, having originally come together in Burnie, Tasmania, and became one of the more visible Australian bands in metalcore's return to nu-metal textures. The band's name was drawn from the film The Grey.

Their sound is built on down-tuned, groove-heavy riffing, dissonant panic chords and abrupt tempo drops, with vocalist Lochie Keogh moving between screams, low bellows and half-rapped delivery. The riffs favour groove and impact over sheer speed, built for live rooms as much as recordings.

The band's debut EP, Origin, followed in 2014, and their debut album, Mono, released in 2017, peaked at number 29 on the ARIA Albums Chart while dealing lyrically with trauma and depression. Original vocalist Aidan Ellaz departed in 2018 after allegations of sexual assault, with Lochie Keogh and Mitch Fogarty joining that year.

Further EPs, Fault in 2019 and Shh in 2023, preceded the band's third album, Half Living Things, previewed by the single "Sucks 2 Suck", featuring Ice-T. Albums including A Quiet Place to Die and Half Living Things carried them beyond the Australian heavy scene.

The band tours widely on hardcore and metalcore bills, and their live shows are known for their physicality, with the songs' breakdown-driven structures written with rooms and crowds in mind rather than for headphone listening alone.

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