With a band name like WOLFBASTARD and album title like Satanic Scum Punks, I'm totally in. To be honest, though, Satanic Scum Punks would also be a great band name. Just saying.  WOLFBASTARD is a Black Metal/Crust trio hailing from Manchester, England. Satanic Scum Punks is their fourth full length album. It was released March 13—a Friday, of course—via Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings. It's 11 tracks of blackened punk fever, totally hilarious and totally raucous.

No one is going to accuse this band of being genius songwriters or being overly innovative, but so what. With the average time of their tracks hovering right at two and half minutes, they aren't here to explore how many permutations that can get out of the fist full of chords they actually know. They just want to raise some hell and have some fun. Or at least, that's what it seems like to me. I mean this band doesn't take itself too seriously, which is a good thing. We need some levity in this world.

Favorite tracks include "It's Fucking Dark" which every metalhead should be able to relate to; the title track—also longest track—"Satanic Scum Punks" which is just contagious as that 2020 thing that went around; "F.O.T.D." especially with its awesome video . . . I really want to believe they staged the actual event; and "Blood on Steel" which is just one hell of a ripper.

I should also mention that I really enjoy Dez's vocals. Not because they're so damned sonorous, they aren't. And not because they are the epitome of demonic vomit, they aren't that either. What they are gravely as ground glass, and also so damned English. I love that you can hear the accent punch through all the gravel.

Satanic Scum Punks is the album Tipper Gore warned us about way back during the Satanic Panic of the 80's. WOLFBASTARD delivers barrels of fuckery, fangs, and fists with this one. If you need to detox from the latest SLEEP TOKEN album, this is your cure.