JesusfreakHideout.com: Top 100 Tooth & Nail Albums of All Time

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#60. Wolves at the Gate
Types and Shadows

Release Date: November 4, 2016

In my opinion, the best metalcore band making music today topped themselves with their third album, Types and Shadows. Not only am I stoked that Wolves at the Gate are on this list twice, but I'm especially excited that this album made it higher on the list than VxV, since I thought I was in the minority for considering this album the band's best work. It might not seem so at first. The band's earlier work is more obviously impressive; on Captors, the songs are front-loaded with big guitar riffs and catchy choruses that leave the songs with nowhere to go. The songwriting throughout Types and Shadows is far more subtle, where the lead guitar riffs and breakdowns take a backseat to complex compositional craft and meticulous melodic movements. The band's newest member, drummer Abishai Collingsworth, absolutely shines, showing great care with every fill he plays and making inventive use of the hi-hat in a manner that's rare for the genre. The lyrics here are a particular highlight, as well, focusing chiefly on the depravity of man and our need for the grace of Christ. While the album is filled with transcendent moments, like the ending of "Flickering Flame," all of these great features come to a head on the final two tracks, "Hindsight" and "Grave Digger," which pair perfect lyrics with perfect music for an incredible display of creativity that is nothing short of beautiful, Biblical, thrilling, and God-glorifying.
- Chase Tremaine

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Top 100 Tooth & Nail Albums of All Time

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