Wolves at the Gate – No Rival

This is the third Wolves at the Gate request for review and another attempt to keep a tight balance on genres and artists. Those of us who wept to East to West and learned from the Devil’s schemes in The Bird and the Snake know that this is a Heavy Metal band. Those who have not heard their music must brace themselves for many screams and heavy rifts.

I am thrilled to review yet another Wolves at the Gate song: No Rival and looking forward to plumbing the depths of their impactful work.

Lyrics can be found at https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Wolves-At-the-Gate/No-Rival.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

With a mix of singing and screaming at their audience, Wolves at the Gate communicates a contrast between the worldly and Godly living.  It is a message to forsake the former and embrace the latter, understanding that it will cost us everything to follow Jesus.  For our sacrifice, we will receive new life with Godly desires, entering into eternal life with Him.  The words crafted are poetic, pointed, and beautifully written.

I am happy to see Wolves at the Gate devote several lines to describe the cost of discipleship.  I rarely see this in a Gospel presentation and was thrilled to read and hear them sing this important truth.

Score: 10/10

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

I found all of the lyrics to agree with the Bible.

Since the lyrics do not follow a Verse/Chorus/Bridge structure, I assigned stanzas to designate each paragraph.

[Stanza 1]

Line 1: References 1 Timothy 6:12, where the Apostle Paul (earlier in this chapter) commanded his audience to flee from the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10-11), pursuing the eternal life to which they were called. Wolves at the Gate goes into more detail as to what we can expect.

Line 2: The calling of the life of a Christ-follower is to suffer for the sake of Him, unafraid (Hebrews 13:6 and 1 Peter 4:12-19). Some have died following His commandments, including the first recorded martyr, Stephen (Acts 7:58-60).

Lines 3 and 4: Stanza 2 clarifies “fire” as the world system. Satan, who is the current ruler of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) attempts to use it to draw us away from Christ (1 Peter 5:8, also see commentary in line 2). Those who listen to the Devil are ensnared by folly, resulting in their destruction (Proverbs 9:13-18).

[Stanza 2]

Line 1: We are commanded to avoid the world system, choosing instead to conform to the image of Christ (Romans 12:2, Galatians 4:3, Galatians 4:9, and Colossians 2:8).  

Line 2: The flames of this world do not have the final word. Death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14).

Lines 3 and 4: Wolves at the Gate recognizes the hollowness that is worldly living, opting to surrender to “You”, identified as “God” later in the song (Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6).

Line 5: Compared to the sacrifice of Christ, this is technically a true statement. What could be greater than paying the penalty for sinners while they continue in sin (Romans 5:6-8)?

Lines 6 and 7: Worldly people think Christians as foolish to follow Him, confounding and shame the “wise” (1 Corinthians 1:27).  In a twist of irony, it is they that are foolish for exchanging Christ for fleshy desires (Romans 1:21-23).

[Stanza 3]

Lines 1 and 2: We cannot be Jesus’ disciple unless we hate (love less) everything else, including our own lives. It is a costly endeavor, which we must calculate (Luke 14:25-33).

Line 3: In exchange for our surrender to God, we will receive a new heart and new desires.  The Bible calls this a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26, Jeremiah 31:33, and Hebrews 8:10).

Lines 4 and 5: It should not surprise us that the world hates us.  It is because they hate Jesus (John 15:18-25 and 1 John 3:13), especially since we weighed the cost of following Jesus (see commentary in lines 1 and 2).

Line 6: Repeats line 3.

[Stanza 4]

Line 1: The usage of “fire” changes in meaning to purification of our hearts (Isaiah 48:10, Zechariah 13:9, Malachi 3:3, and 1 Peter 1:7).

Line 2 and 3: Jesus called His followers to cast their anxieties on Him, taking instead His easy and light yoke (Matthew 11:28-30).  This is to prevent Satan from gaining a foothold in our lives (Ephesians 6:11-17).

Lines 4-6: See commentary on Stanza 1, line 2 and Stanza 3, lines 1, 2, 4, and 5.

Line 7: Repeats Stanza 2, line 5.

Lines 8 and 9: We cannot expect others to consider following Jesus if we don’t muster the courage to share Christ with others (Romans 10:14-15).

Lines 10 and 11: Faithful Christian martyr Polycarp, in his response to a governer who asked him to deny Christ to be spared, gave this response:

“Fourscore and six years have I served him, and he has never done me injury; how then can I now blaspheme my King and Savior?”

This is the inspiration behind these two lines. Its familiar echoes come from Job’s response when his livelihood, health, and children were taken from him, stating “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord”, and refusing to blame God (Job 1:13-22).

[Stanza 5]

Lines 1-6: Repeats Stanza 3, lines 1-6.

[Stanza 6]

Line 1a: See commentary on Stanza 3, lines 4 and 5.

Line 1b: Not so that we could suffer needlessly, but because Christ is worth the cost of pain.  See commentary on Stanza 3, lines 1 and 2.

Line 2: That is because Wolves at the Gate are new creations, forsaking their old patterns and slavery to sin (Ezekiel 11:19, Romans 6:1-7, Romans 8:12-13, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 5:16-18, Ephesians 4:22-24, Ephesians 2:14-16, Colossians 3:10, and 1 Peter 2:24).

Line 3: Repeats line 1.

Lines 4 and 5: Repeats line 2.

Line 6: A nod back to Stanza 4, lines 1-3.  It acts as a final benediction, to cast our past behind.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

The first half in the unbeliever’s ear is likely ambiguous, though perhaps somewhat spiritual.  When they get to the second half, it will become more evident that they discern a calling to sacrifice for some sort of god. 

Which god is it? Wolves at the Gate does not make this clear, though perhaps anyone who happens to run across Polycarp may recognize the quote I posted and think it to be Christian.  That seems highly unlikely.

One might argue that the final stanza clarifies the Christian God given that Wolves at the Gate sings about themselves. Very well. Yet, how simple is it to apply this concept to any other god that has changed others, without lyrical alteration? I suppose it depends on the worldview in question. Perhaps Mormonism or Islam are viable candidates?

Score: 7/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God by demonstrating a clear understanding of expectations for those of us who choose Jesus in terms of expense, benefits, and how we ought to conduct our lives. Yet, its ease in misinterpretation for unbelievers somewhat veils it.

Score: 8/10

Closing Comments

Wolves at the Gate’s No Rival gives them their hat trick, worthy of repeated listens for Christians who aren’t squeamish to screamo music. Its message is clear to believers but has the potential for misinterpretation for those who do not yet follow Jesus. Still, it speaks on a rare topic in Christiandom, namely, the cost of following Jesus, Glorifying God. I’d like to see more in Christian artists covering this topic!

I cannot recommend this song for mainstream Christian churches due to its screaming, but if you’re a believer interested in Christian metal, give it a try.

Final Score: 9/10

Artist Info

Track: No Rival (listen to the song)

Artist: Wolves at the Gate

Album: We Are The Ones

Genre: Heavy Metal

Release Year: 2011

Duration: 3:24

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.