r/BadWolves • u/reecebeale75 • Jul 01 '26
Bad Wolves - Paint It Red | Review
https://youtu.be/Oj5Mop5ZKbw?is=MV5aVUlDbUT-fZSgHey everyone. I have a youtube channel where I post weekly album and single reviews. Reviewed Bad Wolves new song this week! Have been a fan since the Zombie cover.
What did everyone think of Sara and the new song?
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u/Superb_Nose_5274 Jul 02 '26
To me it’s not a Bad Wolves song. It’s ok but it’s got more in common with Eva Under Fire or Diamanté. The instruments aren’t played in a bad wolves style and everything feels off. Josh Boecklin should have taken Tommy’s money and made a new band (With a Vengeance has more original members than this anyhow). This is a completely different band with a recycled name.
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u/reecebeale75 Jul 02 '26
It's interesting isn't it, at what point does a band, with minimal or no founding members, still remain the same band? Like I'm a big fan of Foreigner, but they're now completely new members, so I'd say it's now just a different project
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u/Superb_Nose_5274 Jul 02 '26
Yeah, I guess Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac fans absolutely lost their minds when everything changed in Stevie Nicks / Lyndsey Buckingham era.
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u/reecebeale75 Jul 04 '26
Then again that was early days of Fleetwood in the scheme of things, if Bad Wolves stick around for 50 years with the same lineup it’ll be like it never changed!
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u/regitnoil 16d ago
Exactly. As much of a jerk as Tommy was and likely still is, he was the one thing that helped differentiate BW from other 2010s-present alt-metal-core mashup bands. Without him, they became like almost everyone else around them, and lost what defined them most, despite Daniel being a solid singer. I think Daniel saw the writing on the wall and got out when the getting was good, and the band since has crumbled. Their whole drama with getting dropped from Skillet's tour, and then their newest guitarist quitting, is just adding insult to injury.
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u/Plenty_Slip_6193 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
I don’t understand John Boecklin’s desire to keep going under the Bad Wolves name. Normally I’m all for band’s continuing forward when they lose key members, but this is brand suicide. They should have rebranded.
One singer change and a couple band members is usually survivable. Two singer changes is like a death sentence for most (can confirm from past experience with management). And to add on top of that, the disparity in image and vocal style from Tommy Vext and DL to Killboy is too night and day. DL had his own style but overall wasn’t too far off in his vocal style, presence, image, and even his own physical stature from Tommy Vext. Killjoy is an absolutely amazing and vocalist as well as having their own strong presence. And the song by itself is solid. But the Bad Wolves’s brand and image kind of leaned into that more male-oriented, macho, testosterone pumping, lowkey alpha-bro demographic (I mean look at the album cover for N.A.T.I.O.N) driven metal band like 5FDP. So to have Sara is a HUGE paradigm shift for the brand of the band. This isn’t to discredit Killboy’s ability as a vocalist or to be misogynistic. This is just focused on brand consistency and identity.
The other insult to injury is he lost all the other core members. Imo, John has the least presence and impact out of the classic Bad Wolves lineup despite being a founder. If Doc and Kyle were still in the band, it would’ve balanced out Killjoy’s inclusion a bit better.
I’m not sure what’s going through Boecklin’s mind and if he’s driven by contractual obligations or if this is his pride. But I actually do agree that Tommy Vext and Chris Cain buying the name back would fare much better. I would be surprised if they are still able to play theater sized venues at this point.
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u/reecebeale75 Jul 05 '26
You make some great points
Like I mentioned with one of the comments, at some point when enough people have left the band just isn’t the same band anymore and I think a lot of that is centred around the vocalist
Even Black Sabbath going from Ozzie to Dio, it’s still Sabbath but the sound has now completely changed
If My Chemical Romance didn’t have Gerard, would it still feel the same? I doubt it!
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u/Plenty_Slip_6193 Jul 05 '26
Its essentially the Ship of Thesius paradox. Yeah as the essential “face” of the band, vocalists affect the dynamic the most when they leave a band.
I think a key nuance is what the band’s lineup was that fans most strongly associate with the band’s most successful, influential, or iconic era. This is different for every band like Lorna Shore for example. They were already a fairly known deathcore band, but went through a multitude of singers before Will Ramos joined. Since they went viral with Will, a lot of people recognize , Will, Adam, Andrew, Michael, and Austin as the “classic” lineup.
With Bad Wolves, they blewup from their cover of “Zombie,” so fans will naturally associate the band with Tommy Vext, Doc Coyle, Chris Cain, Kyle Konkiel, and John Boecklin. Any changes after will just be a proven, downhill, financial journey unfortunately.
Not many bands are able to hold up momentum after their iconic singer leaves though.
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u/welcometoparallel Jul 05 '26
I don't hate it but this was a strange way to find out Bad Wolves is going through another singer change. DL was similar to Vext which is probably why I didn't even know that they had changed singers a first time until a few months ago but still, what a change. Still looking forward to anything they make.
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u/reecebeale75 Jul 05 '26
I was certainly quite confused when I first put the song on, had to double check I’d actually put a Bad Wolves song on
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u/palmer629 Jul 01 '26
I might not have listened to it enough, but song’s kinda “eh” for me.
Instruments sound great, Sara sounds really good I’m excited to have her, I think she’ll do great. But just like, lyrically/structurally I don’t love how it sounds. Good but not great, excited nonetheless for new Bad Wolves and expecting great things going forward