Czech label Doomentia have brought us some excellent bands and albums over the past few years, none more so than Procession with their superb ‘Destroyers of the Faith’. Next up for the Doomentia treatment is Wolfhead. The end product of a jam session between members of Between the Frost and Graveyard, you’d probably be forgiven for expecting something more in the traditional Death Metal stylings, but you would be completely wrong. Wolfhead are all about the Doom, and it’s Doom in its original and therefore purest format.
The roots and inspiration here clearly come from the more obvious sources. The likes of Sabbath, Pentagram, Trouble and Count Raven in particular, with singer Iban Arrieta’s voice having a modern swing on the classic 70’s style. The guitars are solid and groovy, particularly on ‘Journey by the Shaman’s Hand’ and ‘Wolfhead’, although they still know how to pack a punch on the more powerful numbers. ‘Cul De Sac’ is a good case in point, which still retains the doom leanings, but brings in some more modern nods as a counterpoint. The opening riff sounds like it borrows heavily from ‘Icon’ era Paradise Lost, whilst the pace and point of it all is more in the Allhelluja vein. Ever since hearing the spoken female line, “Unleash thy mighty thunderbolt, Great Thor”, that’s become a solid favourite for the wife and I in our Thursday night Viking roleplay fun, because it pays to keep things interesting kids! So, with mighty thunderbolt unleashed it’s on to the ‘Sons of Asgard’. The trouble with Viking themed metal, even an attempt at Viking Doom as is heard here, is that Amon Amarth have so totally milked the genre for every last drop of worth it ever had, it’s now impossible to hear anything without acknowledging their influence. I keep expecting Iban to growl and bork his way through the next line, yet mercifully it never comes.
With a title like ‘Doomed Faith’, there was not going to be any deviation in style here, and very pleasing it is too. Drinking deep from the cup of Sabbath, the riffs are rich, there is an armada of groove, and Mr Arrieta seems to be channelling early Ozzy, or is it Dan Fondelius? Either way, this is top of the range stuff. The quality is maintained through the title track, which is supremely atmospheric. With the ritualistic drums leading you on, it sounds as if you’re to be the unwilling sacrifice in a ceremony on Summerisle, only instead of being burned alive in a giant wicker man, you’ll be eaten alive by a giant werewolf instead. Things take a bit of a nose dive off a cliff with a rather incongruous acoustic cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ just tacked on the end. There’s nothing wrong with the song at all, or in the performance on here if judged on its own merits, but as a closer to this album it makes no sense whatsoever.
Wolfhead have provided a bit of a mixed bag. If anything, I’d wager that they recorded the songs on here in the order that they wrote them, (with the obvious exception of Wish You Were Here), as it seems like they grow in confidence and style throughout the album, again with the one exception. The other main criticism is that this has been released as a full length album, which comes in at a little over half an hour, and features a five and a half minute Pink Floyd cover. Come on guys, you can do better than five songs, surely? ‘Wolfhead’, is a solid, yet far from perfect debut. If they decide to carry on however, there are some very promising signs on here for a gloomy future.
http://www.myspace.com/wolfheadband
Lee Kimber
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