Wolves at the Gate – A Voice in the Violence

It’s been a while, but I am excited yet again to tackle another Wolves at the Gate song.  Those who read my previous reviews and listened to their music may have wept bitterly at the sound of East to West, were taught about Satan’s tactics in The Bird and the Snake, and embraced Godly living and its associated cost in No Revival.

For those who are unaware, Wolves at the Gate is a heavy metal band who play Christian-themed music. They Formed in 2008 and released six EP’s and four albums:

• Prisoner of War (EP, 2009)
• Pulled from the Deep (EP, 2010)
• We Are the Ones (EP, 2011)
• Captors (2012)
• Back to School (EP, 2013)
• VxV (2014)
• Reprise (EP, 2015)
• Types & Shadows (2016)
• Eclipse (2019)
• Dawn (EP, 2020)

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Wolves-at-the-gate-a-voice-in-the-violence-lyrics.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

Wolves at the Gate suffers in silence and darkness.  They look for reassurance from “you”, recognizing that the other “you”, Satan, is the voice that led them to pain and suffering.  We know it’s the Devil because this “you” loves conflict and separation.

The first “you” cuts through Satan’s noise, whose love and forgiveness draw Wolves at the Gate away from the Devil.  Since no mere human could accomplish such a feat, this gives us enough reason to believe that this first “you” is God.  Thus, begins Wolves at the Gates’ first steps towards spiritual warfare.

Score: 10/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

Only part of the pronoun “you” is unclear.  Therefore, I will only penalize this song one point for the spots where I assume “you” is God.

Under this assumption, all of it agrees with the Bible.

[Intro]

Lines 1 and 2: Wolves at the Gate requests God for assurance, that He is with them (Deuteronomy 31:6-8, Joshua 1:5-9, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 139:7-10, Isaiah 41:10, Jeremiah 23:23-24, Zephaniah 3:17, Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 28:20, John 14:16-17, Hebrews 13:5, Romans 8:38-39, and Revelation 3:20).

Line 3: Solitude is not good for man (Genesis 2:18).  When Wolves at the Gate is alone, that is when they are vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks.

Lines 4-6: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-4: Wolves at the Gate is alone, hearing Satan’s lies.  This should not surprise us, given that the Devil is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).

[Chorus]

Lines 1-3: Isolation (Genesis 3:1-6) and brutality (Revelation 12:17) are weapons Satan uses against Wolves at the Gate.

Line 4: Repeats line 2.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-4: Wolves at the Gate lived in darkness, listening to Satan’s voice (Proverbs 4:19, John 1:5, John 3:19-21, and John 11:10).

[Bridge]

Line 1: Upon obeying Satan, Wolves at the Gate is isolated.

Lines 2-4: Repeats Intro, lines 1 and 2.

Lines 5 and 6: Essentially repeats Intro, lines 1 and 2.

Lines 7 and 8: By listening to the Devil, Wolves at the Gate abandoned God’s voice, hardening their heart like it’s stone.  The latter concept comes from Ezekiel 11:19 and Ezekiel 36:26.

Lines 9-11: Wolves at the Gate has a God-shaped hole in their lives, filling it with ungodly things.  They receive a taste of eternal separation from God (Matthew 18:8, Matthew 25:41, Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:43, Jude 1:7, Revelation 14:11, and Revelation 20:10).

Lines 12-14: Repeats lines 9-11.

[Refrain]

Lines 1-3: That is, the voice of God that says “I love you”, not just with words, but with action (John 3:16 and Romans 5:6-8).  He stills Wolves at the Gates’ souls (Psalm 46:9-11 and Matthew 11:28).  This is the beginning of new life (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24) and Wolves at the Gate’s spiritual war (Matthew 4:1-11, Romans 7:14-25, Ephesians 6:12-17, and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

[Outro]

Lines 1 and 2: God offers forgiveness to replace Wolves at the Gates’ error (Matthew 26:28, Act 2:38, Act 5:31, Act 10:43, Romans 4:7, Romans 5:6-8, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14, Colossians 2:13-14, James 5:15, James 5:19-20, 1 John 2:1-2, and 1 John 2:12).  This is often known as the “great exchange”.

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will likely adhere to a secular interpretation, where Wolves at the Gate wars between listening to one human or another.  One has great love and offers forgiveness.  The other loves conflict and segregation.  Wolves at the Gate recognizes both for who they are.  Which will they choose?  It seems obvious: the former.  The former “you” offer forgiveness, despite rebellion.

Those outside the camp of Christ will see a positive and uplifting message about the power of forgiveness, even if they don’t recognize it as Christian.

Score: 6/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God in that His love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Wolves at the Gate’s A Voice in the Violence is a great song.  While unbelievers may not comprehend it as Christian, those of us who follow Jesus will see the war within Wolves at the Gate.  Satan and God both vie for attention.  They know what each offers: Satan isolation and violence while God offers compassion and forgiveness.  It seems obvious which Wolves at the Gate will choose: God.  This brings Him glory.

This song is inspirational, but not appropriate for corporate worship.

Final Score: 9/10

Artist Info

Track: A Voice in the Violence (listen to the song)

Artist: Wolves at the Gate

Album: Eclipse

Genre: Hard Rock

Release Year: 2019

Duration: 4:06

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

Updates:

03/26/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.

10/07/2020 – Removed some extraneous text in the introduction.  I accidentally copied it from another Wolves at the Gate review.