Stephen
Bayley maybe wasn't built for IRON MAIDEN but if anyone being the best frontman for WOLFSBANE, he's no doubt the perfect pick. They're back again and trying to save the heavy metal world with eleven adrenaline-pumping songs, carefully picked and crafted, and lots of variety added, including some groovy element and punkish slab, as well as ballad.
The opening track, 'Blue Sky', is a very good start, the chorus is ultra melodic and catchy enough to be the track of the day. Even though I personally pick 'Smoke And Red Light' as the best song here, this has such an amazing party vibe on the chorus. 'Teacher'is an enjoyable uplifting tune; 'Starlight' is a good straight forward ballad; the pure metal madness in 'Live Before I Die' is an interesting attempt; and the great groove in 'Did It For The Money!' deserved an applause.
However I have not very confident with several other tracks such as 'Buy My Pain', I'm not sure the punkish thing is really an excellent choice of diversification for them; 'Illusion of Love' and 'Who Are You Now?' sounds like a left-over filler; and 'Child of The Sun' is quite slow and dreary. The production is also good and overall, it might take more than few spins to enjoy, but I guess WOLFSBANE did a satisfying job here.