"Attack of the Wolf King" is nothing new

A Christian metal band has about as much street cred as Twilight, which is not surprising considering the cookie-cutter, copycat nature of almost all "Christian" bands and their rather ambiguous nature. I mean, what exactly is a Christian band? Are all their members Christian? Do they have to sing about Jesus in every song?

Regardless, recently several metal bands have formed under the "Christian" flag that have attained some financial and critical success, including industry heavyweights As I Lay Dying and UnderOath. While Haste the Day hasn't had as large of an impact as their brothers in arms, they've built a steadily growing fan base on the strength of five full-length releases. Their most recent, "Attack of the Wolf King," hit store shelves on Tuesday, June 29th.

With the new album comes a brand new lineup. Gone are the Chaulk brothers and lead guitarist Jason Barnes, leaving Mike Murphy as the only remaining original member of the band. Replacing them are Dave Krysl and Scotty Whelan on guitar and Giuseppe Capolupo behind the kit.

As the lineup continues to evolve over the years, so does Haste the Day's sound. Gone are the meandering melodies of "Pressure the Hinges" or the epic nature of "Dreamer." "Attack…" is a more concentrated, if somewhat blasé entrance into the band's catalogue. Haste the Day brings all of the metalcore essentials- blazingly quick riffs, harsh, growled vocals and discordant intros- and mixes them with Murphy's always-impressive clean melodies.

Unfortunately, "Attack" doesn't really break any new ground, either for Haste the Day or the metal scene. The album is certainly listenable, but the tracks are almost indistinguishable from each other. "Un-Manifest" has a killer breakdown mid-way through, "Crush Resistance" has a catchy gang-chorus and "White as Snow" is an UnderOath-esque ballad, but the constant intensity of "Attack" gets boring after a while. Fans of Haste the Day's patented mix of melody and intensity will be completely satisfied with their band's offering, but the album won't add any new fans or improve on their diminishing sales numbers.

While their previous release, "Dreamer," demonstrated that Haste the Day was maturing and evolving, "Attack of the Wolf King" shows a band hesitant to move out of their comfort zone. If you want to get into Haste the Day, this is not the album to buy.