“Running out of air, I feel the vertigo.”
Set on a post-apocalyptic planet, Distant Dystopia, the fourth album by Lancaster band A Scent Like Wolves explores the aftermath of a doomsday event. The band’s first album since 2021’s Mystic Auras, they continue to expand on their melodically-infused style of progressive metalcore. Beginning the release cycle mid-2023, initial singles “Force Field” and “Sunscape” paint the themes of the album lyrically. To this end, they’ve also produced a series of animated music videos following a storyline.
Blending their established sound with interstellar themed electronics, the album’s overall sound invokes a sense of melancholic adventure. Early album track “Familiar Beings” displays the band’s knack for creating anthemic, atmospheric sections interjected with djenty breakdowns in a satisfying contrast. The instrumentals strip back mid-track, creating a spacey, clean guitar-led section that creates an intriguing break in pace.
“Interstellar” is one of the most impressive displays of the band’s skill, with an array of intricate riffs and lead lines that form a soaring soundscape. The track features Marcus Vik of Invent Animate, no doubt a band with heavy influence on A Scent Like Wolves. Vik launches into the second verse with his usual ferocity, before switching gears and providing his iconic clean vocals in a stripped-back section of the verse. The track ends on an impressive, almost thall-esque tremolo riff.
The album also features labelmate and cybergrind artist ZOMBIESHARK! on “Reach Into Hell”, making use of his chaotic and aggressive vocals in a vastly different sound from his usual style. He fits onto the track surprisingly well, providing a different dimension to the vocals on the track. The track is one of the harder hitting ones on the album, leaning heavily into the djenty chugs that are a staple of the genre.
The album, in its pursuit of its narrative, has a number of shorter, interlude-type tracks. Mostly led by space-themed electronic elements, they function as shorter tracks on the album, featuring vocals and a few build into a climax with the full band coming in. While they do aid the thematic aspect of the album, I do wish some of these tracks were expanded upon, such as early album track “Starship”. It swings right into one of the most aggressive moments on the album, and features a properly filthy breakdown. However, the track seems to end right before it can develop further.
Distant Dystopia features much of the band’s strengths, with their highly technical, intricate guitar work and ear-hooking chorus melodies. Many fans of this style will no doubt find themselves satisfied by the record. The overall sound of the album is quite uniform, understandably with its concept. It does unfortunately cost quite a few of the tracks’ ability to stand out, with certain parts of the album blending into each other. Given its themes about world-ending events, there is somewhat of a missed opportunity to pivot the album’s sound towards something darker or more thematic, instead of keeping to the band’s already established capabilities. As a whole, the album is a nonetheless solid effort from A Scent Like Wolves. The space for exploration remains vast and ever-expanding for the band, whenever they embark on their next voyage.
7/10
Distant Dystopia releases on the 23rd of February via Theoria Records. Merch and pre-order links for the album can be found here.