Discovery of the year!
Until now
Wolf had always been a band I heard of but never really
heard. Ravenous is an excellent collection of songs rooted deeply in Heavy Metal of the no-keyboard variety. It's classic metal with bite!
Wolf's approach is powerful and heavy with a gleam in the eye. It's easy to hear that these guys enjoy what they are doing as the songs are delivered with an infectious energy. It's time to check out
Wolf's back catalogue since this is their fifth full length album.
This is one of those downloadable promos which came with absolutely no information (For a biased history lesson on
Wolf check out
Century Media's Wolf Page) so when I double clicked on the first song
Speed on I was subsequently happily blown away.
The songs have great drive and choruses you want to scream out loud. The perfect invitation to headbanging.
Suitably named, Johannes Axeman delivers an outstanding performance. The guitar work is top notch, detailed and constantly present, driving the record forward hard and fast. Niklas Stålvind's vocals are high pitched and powerful, creating a convincing atmosphere for the songs to breathe. Listening to the lyrics the word twisted comes to mind. Whether the songs are dealing with witchcraft, demons, passion or something else entirely there is often a strong hint of humor and both this and the themes suit the songs just perfect.
Curse You Salem and
Whisky Psycho Hellions (good title) were instant standouts to me because of their raging, melodic chorus parts. There are no fillers on the album and several songs grow with time as their nuances show, a testament to great songwriting. It's hard and not always polite to make comparisons to other bands but fans of bands like Iron Maiden, Helloween, Judas Priest,
King Diamond and
Cage should take notice. There is a rough unpolished edge to the album which is great to hear in this time and age.
If you have a healthy appetite for Heavy Metal, Ravenous can be devoured numerous times and it will still leave you completely and utterly.... well, ravenous for one more listen. I've been through the first 20 listens and I still feel rather peckish. Highly recommended to any Heavy Metal fans!
Written by
Steen Tuesday, April 14, 2009
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