Time Signature It's payback time...

Genre: power-thrash

I had never heard Wolfs Moon before this album, and I must admit that I expected it to be a load of typical European power metal.

Holy shit, I did not expect an album tagged as power metal to be this heavy! Imagine my surprise, when the opening track turns out to be an all out thrasher with down tuned guitars, killer riffs, and lyrics about hacking and slashing people to peaces. Less brutal, but no less heavy, the following track presents the midtempo side of Wolfs Moon, offering crushing riffs, and 'Curse of the Cult' features uptempo thrash metal passages and face-ripping midtempo parts, while 'Ultra Rebel' is a midtempo thrasher More in the heavy department 'Moribund Vision' features some doom metal elements and a sense of groove. 'Undying Legends' is more of a traditional metal song which pays tribute to the legends of metal, full of references to classic metal releases and songs. If we ignore the vocals, this is actually a pretty good song. 'Boring Life of the Undead' is a tune about (metaphorical) zombies and sounds slightly inspired by The Misfits and is more on the punky side.

Overall, I really like the musical aspect of this album. The guitars are crushingly heavy, and the incorporation of thrash metal into the power and traditional metal works extremely well. Unfortunately, I have a hard time getting used to the vocals which tend to get on my nerves at times - they're a bit over the top for my taste.

Fans of heavy power-thrash, who don't mind some crazy vocals, are probably going to like this riff-fest of an album.

Kev Rowland These guys released their debut album as long ago as 1996, and although it has been five years since their last effort they are now back with a new singer and a new album. This is raw power metal, with some nods towards Kreator and Iced Earth, and mostly this is about being brutal but staying within the realms of the genre without going to the extreme too much. It is almost as if the band have decided exactly what it is that they are going to produce, and don’t want to go outside of some fairly rigid constraints. I found myself thinking of Barclay James Harvest at one point though, not because these guys have anything in common musically with the 70’s UK proggers, but rather that on their classic album ‘Time Honoured Ghosts’ BJH had a song called “Titles” which was comprised solely of Beatles lyrics. Here Wolfs Moon have produced “Undying Legends” which has a similar idea, except this time we are looking at songs by Rainbow, Dio. Ozzy etc. It is a fun idea, and does lead to the listener attempting to name every track and artist involved.

Overall though, this is a solid album without ever becoming anything spectacular. It is heavy and hard-hitting, but doesn’t contain anything that really lifts it out of the ordinary. That the guys can play is never in doubt, but there isn’t enough in either the songs or vocals that make it something to which I will often return. www.wolfsmoon.de