Band
Wolf
Title
Legions Of Bastards
Type
LP/EP
Company
Century Media
YOR
2011
Style
Traditional
Popular Reviews
| Wolf Legions Of Bastards
Company: Century Media Release: 2011 Genre: Traditional Reviewer: Grim Gaijin | |
Traditional heavy metal is alive and wellIn this day and age, the metal "scene" is convoluted with multitudes of bands and sub-genres, that it's almost taboo or "not extreme enough" to be just called a Heavy Metal band. Well, I'm glad to say that Heavy Metal – over the past 5 years or so – has staged its comeback in the forms of such bands as Enforcer, Cauldron, Skull Fist, Holy Grail, & White Wizzard just to name a few. Leading the pack (no pun intended) of the heavy metal heavyweights is Wolf. Since 1995, Wolf has been churning out their ferocious brand of heavy metal, releasing 6 albums. Their latest album, Legions of Bastards continues the thunder of previous efforts and defies all metal sub-genres by proving that traditional heavy metal is alive and well in 2011 and can be just as extreme as any other type of metal.
Legions of Bastards hits the ground running with the up-tempo Vicious Companions and the 80's metal riff attack of Skull Crusher. Full Moon Possession picks the pace back up with a Judas Priest-like riff and awesome dual guitars throughout. The vocals sound great with the occasional Rob Halford screams in the chorus. Jekyll & Hyde shows a more mid-tempo style song with a riff that reminds me of Born Again-era Black Sabbath. Absinthe kicks things back in high gear and pretty much sets the pace for the remainder of the album. The final track is a Metal Church cover called Method To Your Madness and Wolf absolutely nails it! I was a huge Metal Church fan back in the 80's and hearing this track made me want to dust off my Metal Church collection and reminisce the good ole days.
All "true" fans of metal should check out Wolf if haven't done so already. Whether picking up Legions of Bastards as your introduction to the band or getting anything from their back catalog, I'm sure you'll all agree that Wolf is an extremely consistent band that knows the formula for releasing great metal albums. Legions of Bastards is already in my "Top 10 favorite Metal albums of 2011" list and could easily be contenders of metal album of the year. Don't hesitate, pick this album up now!
Despite line-up changes and bursting unto the Metal scene in 1995, Wolf's 6th studio album is by far their best work. Wolf bites back with the album Judas Priest should have followed up Angel Of Retribution with. From Niklas's chops that channel Halford and even Ripper so well it's scary, to their fierce twin guitar attack that would make Tipton's head explode. And songs that are shrouded in a cloak of darkness around topics like religion, corruption, depression, sin all sung with an evil sneer lurking beneath. It's not a ripoff more like an homage to purist Metal with Wolf putting their own spin on it in a way that makes it feel new again.
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