Review: “Satanic Scum Punks” by Wolfbastard

If you’re looking for a band who will sit around an open fire sharing a bottle of Wild Turkey sharing war stories before throwing their shotgun cartridges into it and running like hell for s***s and giggles, then that band is Wolfbastard. A Manchester based trio who love nothing more than to destroy everything in their wake with a nihilistic and defiant blend of Black Metal and Crust Punk, they have offered nothing but pedal to the Metal fury since they first surfaced from the black depths in 2012. Between them vocalist and guitarist Dez Carley, bassist Simon “Si” Fox and drummer Dave Buchan have been there, done that and got the t-shirt with the likes of Burial, Foetal Juice, Cairns, Acral Necrosis, Gain and The Leviathan and already have three studio albums including 2022’s “Hammer The Bastards” under their collective bullet belts…

Fusing a little Judas Priest to their bullets and octane sound, Wolfbastard sprint out of hell’s gate like Satan’s hellhounds with “It’s F**king Dark“, giving a riotous punk riff a Traditional Heavy Metal embellishment that is gloriously left field. A moment that may catch the discerning listener off guard, it almost gives the album a hammer horror moment and you can picture the trio in their rehearsal space looking at each other with evil grins at its very nature. Title track “Satanic Scum Punks” then pours fuel on the fire as the trio return to what we have come to expect from them with a Mayhem meets Discharge down a dark alley for a bottle fight to the death vibe. The scream-a-long chorus makes it a catchy affair that lends itself to the live performances, the hummable main riff an earworm that simply won’t let you rest. While some might think arsonists get all the girls, Wolfbastard warn that that may not be the case with an aggressive Blackened Punk riff that graces “Let the Bastards Burn“. They didn’t just kidnap someone; oh no. They tied them to a chair, dowsed them in petrol and flicked a lit cigarette butt at them and laughed while they burned before writing a song about it. Getting you into a headlock and running head first into oncoming traffic “Hail Satan Kurwa” takes a leaf from the Venom playbook with some unhinged screams accompanying the restless and relentless drumming and scorching riffs. If you thought that Wolfbastard were going to tone it down a little and introduce some acoustic guitars or a power ballad or two then clearly you don’t know who or what you’re dealing with. Calling out Black Metal posers in the finest possible way “F-O-T-D” is the very embodiment of what Wolfbastard have been about since their inception. They’ve never been afraid to tell it like it is and do so in style with verve and swagger, introducing a gang chant at the end of this one just because they can.

Arguably the most Black Metal orientated cut on the album “Blood on Steel” finds Carley demonstrating his storytelling abilities as he depicts the occult ritual of a goat summoning in dark damp forests of Scandinavia. A whirlwind of percussive battery with some glorious bass nuances, its a powerhouse offering from a band who know exactly what they’re doing. Who doesn’t love a drinking song? “Drink For Hell” isn’t a tale of drunken debauchery but a call to arms. The beauty of its depravity is in its simplicity, the primal fury of Carley’s harsh vocals over these sonic abrasions making it a barnstormer. That gets taken a step further with the savage “F**k The Bastards” a two and a half minute adrenaline fuelled massacre of violence, destruction and chaos with glorious bursts of blast beats and visceral screams. There’s nothing not to love. “Manic Street Creatures” feels like a lightening bolt up the a** from a wrathful god, Carley in a furious rage as he commands fits in the air for the gang chanted song title before the classic song with a name “You F**king Rat” rears its ugly head. If you’ve met someone who you’d love to simply knock the f*** out because their very existence on this blue dot offends every fibre of your being then this one is for you. There is just one more gloriously angry anthem left in this venomous collection and “B-I-F-F-O” should come with a health warning of its very own. A head rush of a tune that feels like it was recorded live on the floor of the studio, it confirms everything that they wanted to know before drawing chalk lines around the bodies [7/10]

Track Listing

1. It’s Fucking Dark
2. Satanic Scum Punks
3. Let the Bastards Burn
4. Hail Satan Kurwa
5. F-O-T-D
6. Blood on Steel
7. Drink For Hell
8. Fuck The Bastards
9. Manic Street Creatures
10. You Fucking Rat
11. B-I-F-F-O

“Satanic Scum Punks” by Wolfbastard is out 13th March 2026 via Apocalyptic Witchcraft