Wolfchant is a name I’ve heard thrown around a few times when it comes to the ever growing European Pagan Metal cult, but aside from that I haven’t had a chance to listen to any material. So with that in mind I patiently listen to the promotional copy of their new long player and am pleasantly surprised by what I hear. Wolfchant have a pretty diverse sound when you scratch their surface - Amon Amarth style Melodic Death Metal meets Black Metal with liberal Power Metal and Folk overtones, and lots of Viking themed lyrics.
A lot of effort has obviously gone into song structuring and fundamentals before they hit the studio to record and have created something rough and yet polished enough to contend with the top bands in their genre. The only real stumbling point is one that EVERY band that goes for the ‘epic’ feel in their music faces, no matter if they have a top producer or are recording on an eight track in a basement, but while Wolfchant may fall a little flat on occasion, I have no doubt that the majority of these songs will transfer very well to the live circuit and will get that extra kick they sometimes lack on the CD.
The first track on the album is a bit of a curve ball. ‘Determination Begins’ doesn’t so much start the proceedings but rather teases you with a track that sounds like it will lead into the album but instead fades out. ‘World In Ice’ does make up for this though, with its fast hair-swinging riff it gets things off to an impressive start. ‘Until the End’ has a near Turisas feel to its riff which is good and bad, due to the fact that I can see what they’re aiming for but they just don’t quite pull it off as easily as Turisas do. Track four, ‘Determined Damnation’ does reach the epic level though, through the use of the folksy choral singing and clean vocals in addition to the prominent raspy vocals. ‘In War’ has great folk style intro and a stomping riff all the way through that continues the genuinely epic feeling that the previous track stirred up. Unfortunately the next track ‘The Fate of the Fighting Men’, seems like pretty standard Viking metal in comparison and suffers in the chorus especially, due to the choral singing that just comes off as comical in this instance. ‘A Raven’s Flight’ is a nice blackened-thrash style of track that uses the simple ‘fast verse & big chorus’ to create a good mosh-friendly track that stands out because of its straight-forward approach. Track 9, ‘Never too Drunk’ retreads previous ground with its folk intro and chugging riffs, but it has the advantage of being up there with the best metal drinking anthems and has a ‘CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!’ feel to it. ‘Auf Blut Gebaut’ has that Turisas feel to it again but turns a corner when it goes into a more traditional Black Metal structure, but again doesn’t quite hit the mark of pervious tracks. The final track ‘Under the Wolves Banner’ does though, particularly through the keys and guitars complementing each other more in the chorus and the choral singing gelling better with the raspy Black Metal vocals.
There is certainly room for improvement on this disc, but Wolfchant are certainly on the right track with this one. I can’t help but thing it would have more punch if a few tracks had been left off, but the tracks that do truly hit the epic feeling with you carry the album well enough. On the whole it’s a decent offering and has a couple of (great) bonus tracks that give it a little more value if you decide to shell out for it.
http://www.wolfchant-metal.com
http://www.myspace.com/wolfchant
