On disc: Wolf

 
- Black Wings
 
- Volker Raabe -
 
 


 
- Evil Star
 
- Alex Albrecht -
 
 


 
- The Black Flame
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 

The Black Flame

(Century Media - 2006)



 
 

 

Usually it’s said the 3rd album is 'make it or break it', but it seems that in case of Wolf it's their 4th album... With I Will Kill Again they start powerful and a bit 80's like into The Black Flame. Traditional metal with high-pitched vocals and an 80's vibe. And with the powerful production of Fredrik Norström they can show that the Wolf is still dangerous. It seems that touring made them more tight and that it taught them what makes a song work live. More riff-based mid-tempo rockers and At The Graveyard Niklas Olsson partly sounds like Kai Hansen about 20 years ago... It also has a bit of Mercyful Fate - without King Diamond's high screams. Songs like Black Magic and At The Graveyard make you join in during the chorus. There is some catchiness... A bell leads into Make Friends With Your Nightmares - a track with a slightly different vibe. But they stick to their guns.

Friends of 80's metal should check this album out. And friends of Mercyful Fate might like it too...  Pick one of the first 3 songs and you can't do wrong. If you like one of these tracks the others won't disappoint you, even not all songs have the same quality.
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Evil Star

(Massacre Records - 2004)



 
 

 

The Swedish youngsters released with Black Wings in 2002 a great album. Fans and critics celebrated it and so the band was under pressure to deliver another album on the same level or even better which would mean to record their masterpiece. With Evil Star they managed to keep the level. Well, there are people who will complain that the band hasn't found their identity yet. Especially the bass and guitar is not just inspired by Iron Maiden - at Killers times. Vocally Niklas Olsson is inspired by another NWoBHM band ...by Judas Priest, but also by Exciter and Warlord. Again the Swedish play simply heavy metal, for some probably too simple... The title track is one of the best songs on Evil Star and quite representative for this one. Another highlight is American Storm where the band shows a larger variety. A little different is Out Of Still Midnight, but a good one. With (Don't Fear) The Reaper they recorded an old Blue Öyster Cult classic - in their own way. Actually I think they should have chose a song which haven't been recorded a thousand times. For the German version they recorded 2 more cover songs - Slayer's Die By My Sword and The Ramones' I'm Not Afraid Of Life. Well, this songs didn't really fit to them...

The album is produced by mastermind Peter Tägtgen who actually didn't want to produce any more, but had too much fun during the recordings of their last album. We'll see, if he'll do it again.

A modern album for fans of NWoBHM and heavy metal in general.
 
 










Alex Albrecht
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
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Black Wings

(No Fashion - 2001)



 
 

 

The young Swedish band is playing power metal, but not the kind of Hammerfall! No, they are more into the US power metal! And they sound fresh! They are not trying to jump on the band-wagon. Melodic riffing, but I think that on their debut they had more melody lines... Harmonies. If you like the 80's power metal, then Black Wings is a good album for you. This is true metal! Try the head banging track Demon Bell or the riff-driven I Am The Devil or the Iron Maiden-like Genocide. This youngsters need support and they earn it! So, support the underground!!!!
 
 










Volker Raabe
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
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           ©2008-2010 by Claudia Ehrhardt • E-Mail: contact@ice-vajal.com