Exclusive Premiere: Powerwolves Stream Their New Album, ‘You Won’t Find Peace’

Massachusetts hardcore outfit Powerwolves will release their second full-length, You Won’t Find Peace (Panic), tomorrow. But you can hear the record in full right here. We also got the full low down on the LP from Powerwolves frontman Dave Witkum. Let us know what you think of You Won’t Find Peace in the comments section.

REVOLVER How have you evolved as a band from your 2010 demo?
DAVE WITKUM I think our sound has definitely evolved since the demo, in that we were able to explore a few different ideas while writing a full-length because we had more time for the actual writing. Our demo was just sort of something we wanted to get out as soon as possible so we could start playing shows. We didn’t really care about how cohesive or balanced it was since it was only a demo.

What were you trying to accomplish on You Won’t Find Peace that you hadn’t in the past?
You Won’t Find Peace is sort of the album that we always wanted to make. We write music that reflects all the different types of music we like, rather than trying to stick to one particular type of “sound,” which can get boring real fast. Our tastes are very diverse, and I think that is reflected in the album pretty well.  I mean we obviously like the fast, pissed off aspect of hardcore and metal, but we also like to incorporate a little melody here or there, or slow things down to diversify ours, and the listeners experience. Of course there are exceptions, though, when it comes to writing a record that is just pure, fast aggression the whole way through and it works perfectly, like a Reign in Blood.

What are you proudest of on You Won’t Find Peace?
I like to play all the songs live from the record, but two in particular that I really look forward to playing live at every show are the title track “You Won’t Find Peace,” and the song “Heavy Lies the Crown.” Those two in my opinion define, in a nutshell, the Powerwolves sound, and I lose my mind slightly more than usual when playing them live.

What was your most challenging experience in the studio?
We recorded You Won’t Find Peace with our good friend Ryan Stack at Format Audio and I seriously can’t think of one thing that was challenging during the recording process. We have known him for a while now and he also recorded our demo, and it has been nothing but a blast working with him. The only thing I can think of that was a challenge was when we all learned about The Human Centipede together while in the studio, and it was right after we all had eaten pretty sloppy burritos on a fucking sweltering hot day when we recorded the demo.  Some of us had to lie down and try not to puke, while others just paced around the room shaking their heads in silence.

What about the most rewarding?
The most rewarding is definitely sitting back and listening to the final mixes of the record, and hearing the songs we wrote together in our drummer’s basement played back to us for the first time as a whole record.

What songs have been going over best live and why?
So far we have only played three new songs live on a regular basis. Those are “You Won’t Find Peace,” “Heavy Lies the Crown,” and “Yesterdays.” The first two are more heavy songs that definitely get people moving, but “Yesterdays” is more of just a fast melodic punk/metal song to headbang to. All three are really fun to play though, and we are looking forward to unleashing more new songs soon.

Lastly, you have a bonus track titled “Night of the Long Fangs.” Is this meant more as a play on the historical event “Night of the Long Knives” or the AC/DC song?
It is definitely a play on the title of the AC/DC song, not what happened in Nazi Germany in1934.  I just thought it sounded rad, and the song is about coming to terms with madness and embracing it, while looking through the lens of a guy turning into a beast. Maybe there is some relevance buried in there somewhere, but it wasn’t intentional.