Wolves at the Gate are back with a brand new album. They will release Wasteland on May 30 via Solid State Records. Pre-order it here.
Today, the band has shared the video for the first single “Parasite.” Watch it here.
The song is masterful mix of synths, screams, and stompy breakdowns, so basically everything you want in a metalcore song!
“Throughout the whole album, we are exploring different concepts through the lens of a broader narrative and story,” says vocalist/guitarist Steve Cobucci. “With ‘Parasite,’ we wanted to write a song that explores the relationship between a parasite and its host. It’s such a powerful metaphor for the way that we all relate with our own weaknesses, tendencies, and sin.”
He continues, “There’s a sense in which we hate the way that we continue to go back down the same dark paths, but we only walk those paths because there is something we want and something that we are getting out of it. We can say that we hate it as much as we want, but there is something enticing about it. It is a song essentially about the insanity of sin. The very thing that we crave is the very thing that hates us and wants to kill us. Chasing after sin is a bottomless pit. Always promising but never satisfying.”
He finishes, “The chorus line captures that idea saying, ‘And I died a million deaths to live.’ That’s the picture that I see of my own sinfulness. I chose to dive into things that I knew would result in a million deaths thinking that it would give me life and regardless of how many times I saw how shallow and empty it was, I still chased after it. This song is a lament of a reality that I know all too well. And so I wanted to write a song that would shine a bright light on it for me to remember that sin is an empty promise that leaves you hollow in the end. The same way a parasite feeds on you until you have no life left to give.”
Wolves At The Gate have quietly and naturally evolved since their emergence out of the Midwest in 2008. Their vision unfolded across albums such as Captors [2012], VxV[2014],Types & Shadows [2016], Eclipse [2019], andEulogies[2022]. Blabbermouth rated the latter “9.0-out-of-10.0,” while mxdwn summed it up as “powerfully moving.” Along the way, the group tallied tens of millions of streams fueled by the likes of “Counterfeit,” “Deadman,” “Lowborn,” “Peace That Starts The War,” and more. Not to mention, they’ve performed alongside everyone from The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Red to Fit For A King, August Burns Red, and Born Of Osiris. In 2024, a core idea screamed out to guitarist Steve Cobucci, shaping the creative direction of the band’s next evolution. It slowly, but surely seeped into the DNA of the music and his words.
“As I was working on the album and especially the lyrics, I began to realize that the Wasteland was a metaphor for a frame of mind that I don’t want to live in, but a world I feel myself drawn back into over and over again,” Cobucci reveals. “I hate it. It’s a world of empty promises. It’s a mirage. A counterfeit.”
The musicians carefully pieced together what would become Wasteland. Cobucci co-produced the 13-track body of work with Josh Gilbert of Spiritbox, while the band recorded in New Jersey, San Diego, and Los Angeles. This time around, they added multiple dimensions to their signature sound, layering intriguing interludes and electronic overtures into the framework.
