New Band of the Week: ForeignWolf

Northern Irish band ForeignWolf have honed an explosive and diverse sound that draws on elements of punk, rock and metal and is as punchy as it is deliciously captivating.

The Belfast quintet began in 2019, bringing together the remnants of other projects the band members had previously been part of. They started out with Gerard McCann on guitar and vocals, David Brady on lead guitar and vocals, Justin Lee Jamison on Bass and Sean O’Neill on drums, who released debut EP Tempered Hearts and played shows across Northern Ireland shortly before the pandemic broke.

The lockdown gave them time to begin crafting a sound that represented them, which culminated in the release of second EP Your Weapons, Your Words. A few lineup changes have since seen Gerard, David and Justin Lee joined by Conor Forbes on vocals and bass and drummer Max Couhig.

And on the sound the band has crafted, they tell us: “One of the biggest hurdles we’ve faced as a band is being able to put a genre on our music. We’ve actually learned to embrace this, letting ourselves be creative in our writing and not limiting ourselves to a specific sound or style. People should expect a drop of early 2000s emo mixed with a heavy dose of metal and alternative rock.”

Our latest taste of this is the lively single Stay With Me, which was released last month. It opens up with a cool little riff that kicks up a notch as engaging chorus vocals join in. Clean vocals are followed by heavier screams, which feed into another chorus and repeats of “Stay with me, You’ll never find a way out.” Another fun fast-paced riff takes over and gives way to intense vocals supported by pounding drums in a frenetic outro to this delicious track.

On the track, the band told us: “We can not wait for people to finally hear what we have created with this next single. This song for us is just pure energy, chaos and fun. Fans should be expecting to hear a side to us they may not have heard before, embracing more of a fast-paced, punk-inspired sound.” Check it out in the video here:

That follows on from two more tracks released earlier this year. The first of those was Almost Lost, which was released in June. It opens up with a light riff that feeds into a surprisingly heavy verse supported by more melodic instrumentals. An engaging chorus with loads of vocals going on gives way to another vicious verse. Second time around it drops into a building guitar sound, which leads into heavier guitars and screamed vocals, then a piercing laid-back guitar sets up a powerful conclusion.

Following that in August was Martyr, which started out as a track that was only ever played live and went unreleased for nearly two years. It begins with a building sound and then ominous crushing guitars. Repeating guitars take over with rolling drums, before dropping into a dark verse led by laid-back vocals. Heavier guitars and drums kick in as it builds up to an atmospheric chorus to a song that presents a darker edge to the band. Check it out in the video here:

There’s plenty more ForeignWolf music to dig your teeth into including huge tracks like Breathe and These Tempered Hearts from their debut record and Alone from the second EP, which you can check out in the lyric video here:

The ForeignWolf members take inspiration from a wide range of music. In their words: “By not limiting ourselves musically we have been able to draw influences from a wide variety of acts. Our main source of inspiration comes from bands like Alexisonfire, Deftones, Cancer Bats, Alter Bridge but we also find influence more broadly. We have at times shared interests in bands like Foo Fighters, Green Day, Funeral for a Friend, Dance Gavin Dance, Enter Shikari and Thrice among others.”

You can see the band at two shows in Northern Ireland next month. They’ll be playing in Derry on 11 November and in Belfast on 17 November. There’s plenty more to come from them too, with the band revealing they have a few things in the works but are “keeping our cards close to our chest” for now.

You can follow ForeignWolf on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, YouTube Music and YouTube.