Saturday 4 May 2019

Wolf Blood - II (Album Review)


Release date: May 01st 2019. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/Cassette/DD/Vinyl

Tower – Tracklisting

1.LESION 05:00
2.SLAUGHTERHOUSE 06:14
3.KUMATE 08:22
4.OPIUM 02:22
5.STORY OF A DROWNING MAN 07:48
6.TSUNAMI 11:22

Members

Mindy- guitar/vocals
Jakob- drums/vocals
Adam- bass/vocals

Review

Wolf Blood new album is an exciting mix of different styles of Hard Rock and Metal with the band showing a great eye for sonic melodies along the way. The band take an original approach with their music by blending elements of Heavy Metal, Thrash, Doom, Stoner, Psych and Sludge for the whole course of the album. I remember being impressed by Wolf Blood’s debut album when I first heard it many years ago.

This album offers a different and aggressive style to their debut album but still maintains many themes and ideas contained on that album.

Opening song – Lesion – is an aggressive style of Sludge, Doom and Heavy Metal that I took me by complete surprise. As the band take influence from bands such as Iron Maiden, YOB and Black Sabbath on this song but still delivering their own hard-hitting sound. The song is quite progressive in places with Mindy’s vocals adding a cool Psychedelic based groove. The song becomes quite relentless towards the end with Wolf Blood playing epic style riffs.

Second song – Slaughterhouse – is one of the strongest songs on the album and that’s mainly down to the excellent dual vocals. The music is still aggressive but with a more Doom Metal orientated sound that suits Wolf Blood down to the ground. The gloomy lyrics offer a dark insight into Wolf Blood’s creative vision and draws you in with loud hypnotic riffs.

Third song – Kumate – is perhaps named after the JVCD classic film BLOODSPORT. Could be wrong on that score. Anyway, this song is another aggressive slice of fast-paced riffage where Wolf Blood that acts as a cool throwback to eighties Hard Rock and Heavy Metal and still offering modern Sludge/Stoner Metal vibes for an exciting style of music.

The second half of the album sees Wolf Blood playing a harsher style of Doom/Sludge Metal and the vocals take a sinister turn on the excellent fourth song Opium and this ranks as my favourite song on the album. As it’s straight to the point lasting under three minutes and that allows Wolf Blood to play all the heavy aggressive sounds quite early on and left me wanting more for this style of music.

The final two songs – Story Of A Drowning Man and Tsunami – offers a more reflective and personal sound from the band. As the album adds a slightly off-kilter Post-Rock vibe on Drowning Man. It’s a superbly written and haunting song that is perhaps the gloomiest song on the entire album. Tsunami offers runs past the eleven minutes’ mark and brings this album to an exciting and action packed finish.

Wolf Blood have delivered the goods with this album and this demands your full undivided attention.

Words by Steve Howe

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