Any Wolves out there? Time to join the pack, “AwareWolves: The Great Awakening” is the most refreshingly interesting heavy rock album out of NZ within the last year.
AwareWolves formed as a pack in 2020, howling out of Napier, New Zealand. 3 Lone Wolves unite in like-mindedness, in search of a creative outlet, and an opportunity to feed their hunger for life.
The 3-piece Heavy Rock trio are,
- Eduardo Perez as “El Shadow” on Bass and lead vocals,
- Kane Raisey as “Ol’ Mr Skull” on Guitar and B.V’s,
- and Jaxon Mitchell a.k.a “Party Wolf” on Drums and growls.
Their adopted personas manifest on stage as 3 larger than life characters who embody different aspects of our human nature, and poke fun at some of our internal conflicts and the strange things we observe around us. In just 2 years the showmen have gone from crafting their songs and rehearsing for the local live scene, to pre-production, studio recording, and now the greatly anticipated release of their 9-track debut album – “AwareWolves: The Great Awakening”.
THE GREAT AWAKENING was recorded in Waipu, New Zealand, produced by multiple award-winning producer Niel “Hammerhead” De Jong at his very own Hammerhead Studio. Niel has been instrumental in extracting an “unheard of sound” from the band and has captured the live feel and raw power of their performance – A massive part of the AwareWolves appeal on stage, this is an offering incomparable to anything the world has heard before, and they’ve left you a kick-ass album full of earworms and morsels which will leave you wanting more!
While away in the studio with Niel, Cyclone Gabrielle ripped across the country and most severely through their hometown of Napier, flooding the city and completely isolating the people. The AwareWolves will forever have this album as a keepsake, to remind them of exactly where they were at as a band during an unforgettable time.
“It felt like some fluke, like we had escaped the devastation. We knew that if everyone was struggling through such hardship back home, then we needed to give our absolute all to this album and make em’ proud!”
“AwareWolves: The Great Awakening” is both interesting AND it is quality – it is not often you get both! They’ve taken everything that you love about good hard rock music and combined it all into one. It’s progressive, full of surprises, and undeniably good!
Look out for their first single “Coulda” – It’s catchy, entirely relatable, and includes all the elements of the AwareWolves signature sound!
- Acute vocal tones pelting some pretty relatable lyrics,
- Feel-good guitar riffs and elastic bends,
- and a hard-driven rhythm section with stern basslines, expressive drumming, and a striking beat that all bind adhesively. ‘Coulda’ may just get stuck in your head.
To enjoy the full album, consume it from start to finish like a good film – buckle in through the peaks and troughs and hold on until track 09. “The Great Divide” from where the album draws its title, is a triumphant call to action, and is arguably the albums best kept secret. Saved for last, the listener resolves to this final musical masterpiece, made up of several beautiful and powerful movements that build to an irrefutable finish.
THE GREAT AWAKENING was released on November 13th 2023 and is available for purchase on CD, Digital Download, and the album is available on streaming platforms now! Get your copy on CD directly from AwareWolves.nz
