Wolfnaut - Return Of The Asteroid (Album Review)

 

Release Date: April 21st 2023. Record Label: Ripple Music. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Return Of The Asteroid: Tracklisting

1.Brother of the Badlands 04:26 

2.My Orbit Is Mine 03:07

3.The Mighty Pawns 05:43

4.Crash Yer Asteroid 02:47

5.Arrows 04:41

6.G.T.R. 03:00

7.Something More Than Night 03:20

8.Crates of Doom 07:14

9.Wolfnaut's Lament 10:12

Members

Tor Erik Hagen: Bass

Ronny "Ronster" Kristiansen: Drums & Percussion

Kjetil Sæter: Guitars, Vocals & Piano

Review

Desert/Stoner Rockers Wolfnaut return with their fourth album Return Of The Asteroid and their first for Underground Juggernaut label Ripple Music. However, this hasn’t stopped the band creating their Heavy Metal inspired take on Desert/Stoner Rock with the band perhaps moving slightly further into the Heavy Metal realm. Their trademark Desert/Stoner grooves are here but with more emphasis on power and volume. 

The songs are catchy with the majority of the vocals and lyrics inspired by 1980’s Heavy Metal with perhaps Iron Maiden being a direct influence. This is a winning style of music which you can hear on the stunning opening track Brother Of The Badlands. A song that sees Wolfnaut inject some mighty cosmic flavours to the mix. The song is stylish with a classic Desert/Psych Rock sound being the main glue that holds everything together and the band move into different musical directions which can be quite progressive and melodic at the same time. 

The album is quite FUZZ based which comes more into focus on the next few songs of My Orbit Is Mine and The Mighty Pawns. The NWOBHM is there with the classic 1990’s Desert/Stoner Rock part of the album moving along at a cracking melodic pace. Kjetil’s vocals are top-notch when offering Old School Heavy Metal theatrics with the seedier Stoner Rock/Metal appearing here and there.

Return Of The Asteroid is a more daring, bolder and darker vision compared to their acclaimed last album. The creative themes are more vivid with the songs being more direct as well. The album is not what you would expect from Wolfnaut but with the band releasing album number four, they had to do something differently and they continue with that journey on sublime tracks such as Crash Yer Asteroid, G.T.R, Crates Of Doom and Wolfnaut’s Lament.

The only part of the album I didn't enjoy was the track Arrows. As it's mostly a ballad with some heavy moments. However, the song took the excitement from the album for a short period of time. Though, I do admire the creative choices that Wolfnaut made for this track. 

The final two songs Crates Of Doom and Wolfnaut’s Lament are where the band shine the most with some of the most passionate and heaviest grooves on the album. This part of the album has a “OVER THE TOP” and “WAY OUT THERE” presence but Wolfnaut keeps everything real with their dynamic use of Stoner and Weedian themes even within the NWOBHM framework that ultimately makes this album work.

This is a thrilling and action-packed album which will keep fans of Old School Heavy Metal and Stoner Metal entertained for a long time to come. 

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the promo.

Return Of The Asteroid is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Ripple Music

Links

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram