Review by Alex on August 26, 2019.

I understand what these guys were going for, but it was not executed the way I would have imagined it to, which is both a good and bad thing as the element of surprise is often a welcome factor. But in this case it's not so entirely. What I like about this record is the early Archgoat influences being touted around, Angelcunt for example, and the untamed vocals atop the compositions. Though some aspects of this 2-track EP are to my liking such as the drum patterns and riffing, I have found the more technical elements of the instrumental arrangements to be a bit sloppy. These two tracks come off as being bestial yes, but poorly gathered if you understand what I mean. The ability to play is there but the overall presentation appears to sound of disunity as if every member has their own idea of pace keeping; though definitely knowledgeable musicians, the song sections sound drunkenly put together. It pisses me off because I like the artwork and the theme behind the record, but where the music is concerned, it just does not give me a feeling of unity, rather, a rushed and scrambled together effort is what I get after hearing the tracks 'Rome 897' and 'Stavelot 1597'. I think Dikasterion can do better than this, they have the tools, it’s just a matter of fluently linking them together.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Review by Michael on January 13, 2021.

What's going on with the Australians from Werewolves? Stepped in dog shit too often while jogging? Too little sleep? Annoying colleagues? I haven't heard such a hateful album as What A Time To Be Alive for a long time. The first song alone, 'I Don't Like You', hits the listener without an intro or any kind of introduction and leaves him, if not with a broken jaw, then at least with a bloody nose and a knocked-out tooth. I don't even want to know how the person they don't like feels. Or if they are even still among the living.

Musically Werewolves continue where they left off on their last album and are a mix of mega aggressive thrash, death, black and a pinch of grindcore (in the style of Nasum, only with longer songs). The singer screams and growls his way through the songs, the drummer, who by the way also plays for tech-deathers Psycroptic, pounds away at his drum kit like it's the one he doesn't like, and the guitars saw their way through the songs with great intensity. Guitar solos are completely out of the question here, but they would only destroy the incredibly energetic, hateful and intense mood that the album spreads (what irony in this context). Stylistically, the album is somewhere between old European thrash bands and Slayer ('They Will Pay With Their Own Blood'), Sinister and similar death metal bands ('Traitors and Bastards') and, as already mentioned, Nasum.

All tracks of the album are kept in a similar style. Each song spreads anger and aggression and there are almost no slower passages in the tracks. Only 'They Will Pay With Their Own Blood' is a slower song with catchy melodies, at least at the beginning, but it is not less intense than the other tracks. If you like an extreme mixture of thrash/ death/ black and grindcore and can well do without pieces that are held in a slower tempo, What A Time To Be Alive is exactly the right thing for you.

Rating: 9.4 out of 10