TO THE RATS AND WOLVES, founded in 2012, are an up-and-coming band that are already successful with the release of their debut "Neverland" in May 2015. Their first single scored over 250,000 clicks and the album made it to #2 on the German iTunes-Metal-Charts. Shortly thereafter, the young troupe signed with the label Arising Empire, while increasing in popularity and growing viewership over the stages in Germany. In addition to numerous festivals and exclusive club shows, the band toured with WE BUTTER THE BREAD on the "Wieder Geil Tour" in 2015. The band were also an official tour support for BRING ME THE HORIZON on their three exclusive shows in Germany, as well as opener on two shows by ASKING ALEXANDRIA. TO THE RATS AND WOLVES play Metalcore with influences of electronic dance music, which is also referred to in the scene as Trancecore. I have never heard of this genre so I am intrigued as to what the album holds.

The album starts off with "Cheap Love".  The song starts off with some 80's style intro. When the song hits, it hits strong. The vocals are deep growls that catch you off guard. The guitars and drums give off that Metalcore sound until the chorus hits. It turns into this funky early to mid-80's and it completely works. I am very surprised with how the two styles seem to flow so well together. "Therapy" comes in behind the first track. It begins around the same way, but instead of the blast of Metal the style, keeps that same funky groove until the breakdown. It has mostly clean vocals throughout until a raspy scream is shouted into the air. I am still lost at how the music flows through a song that is totally different from the first.  "Never Stop" is the fourth track on the album. I really chose this song because it still has the same funky beginning, but definitely not the same. Again we hear that Metalcore screaming through. Once they hit the chorus, those clean vocals are once again on point. I have to be honest, I have heard great mixes of music and felt like I could describe them. I really do not know how to even describe this band this far.

"True" features Trevor Wentworth from OUR LAST NIGHT. We still have this clean vocal composition that begins like most songs but different. It carries on with beautiful orchestrated music that seems to caress the soul. Both singers blend very well together, yet you can still tell who is who as the vocal tones change. "Famous" follows suit with most of the songs. It isn't very heavy and has more of a poppy sound. I can totally see people dancing to this song more than head-banging. "B.I.C." feels more of an album ender than "Down".  "Down" has this slow tempo whereas "B.I.C." has more of a pounding beginning with cleans in the chorus. It just seems like a better song with a little rap breakdown that is just a start to the screaming vocals that follow. If I had to pick a song as a favorite, this would be it. The music is more upbeat and heavier than the last song of the album. It just seems to draw me in with how the music goes from heavy to heavier before the cleans follow up.

"Cheap Love" is a very mysterious album to me. I find it hard to even label the music because there is so much truly going on in each song. At times I think they sound like FALL OUT BOY or PANIC!ATTHEDISCO, but other times they remind more of AUGUST BURNS RED or IN FLAMES. If you put them all in a bowl and gave them a mix on high, you would get TO THE RATS AND WOLVES. The band has created a very unique mixture of music of Trancecore, as it is called. They are the first band of this genre I have listened to. I hate using genres because to me music is just music. TO THE RATS AND WOLVES have done just that. They have made their own unique style of music. I definitely recommend anyone to take a listen to this very strange yet unique album.