The songs on this album are echoing, but not distant; they connect on a personal level, and then pull the listener along in a mighty heave.
A record of dazzling scope, in vision and execution, this is the testament of a band who are seething with primal energy and also have the cojones to be leaders of the pack.
Wolf's Law is a weirder, proggier record that explores a wider range of textures and sounds than the relatively monochromatic Roar.
Despite the album’s much-welcomed experimentation – see the Beatles-like orchestration of ‘The Turnaround’ – you still feel the best is yet to come from this riveting trio.
You can’t help but admire their ambition, but their tendency to overreach is inhibiting them from becoming the band they want and deserve to be.
Wolf’s Law will strike you as another work with a few memorable songs filled in by an exuberant supply of anthems in which big hooks and sheer willpower disguise a lack of variety or adventure.
What’s impressive about Wolf’s Law is that it can still surprise and overwhelm you even when you know more and more of the same is coming.
The Joy Formidable demonstrate that they know how to make a solid rock record. However, the band is still brimming with potential, and one can’t shake the feeling that the best is yet to come.
Sounding big may be a pretty good way to get a support slot with the biggest bands in the country and, in time, the world, but after a point you need more to say.
Wolf’s Law is stuffed with aerodynamic, fuel-efficient, eco-friendly pop-rock songs
It’s a near frustration that The Joy Formidable seem content with the radio-ready, studio craftiness that the band has practically perfected.
Inevitably for a band built on pomp-rock power, their idea of ‘progression’ means turning everything up to 11.
They have got better at what they do but unfortunately what they've done with Wolf’s Law isn't enough to keep your attention for the entire journey.
More full-on power from the Welsh trio. Huge sound but not without light and shade. Maw Maw song and Cholla particular highlights.