Wolfheart - Tyhjyys Review

 1. Shores of Lake Simpele

 2. Boneyard

 3. World On Fire

 4. The Flood

 5. The Rift

 6. Call Of The Winter

 7. Dead White

 8. Tyhjyys

Tyhjyys begins with the hauntingly beautiful track, ‘Shores Of Lake Simpele’. It’s a mellow instrumental but sets the atmosphere for the remainder of the album as many of the songs contain segments that verge on soothing, interspersed with segments containing a more traditional melo-death harshness. Long instrumental breaks are characteristic of Wolfheart but they are well-crafted and fit with the flow of the album. Wolfheart manages to capture the cold somberness often associated with Finnish melodic death metal; that feeling of melancholy and of desolation. Tuomas Saukkonen’s growling vocals serve to accentuate the angrier moments contained within the album.

‘The Rift’ presents some distinctly death metal elements, but still retains melody. This is true of the entire album, although the purest death elements are found within this track. Tyhjyys is expertly written with each segment flowing seamlessly into the next. It would be difficult to point out any obvious weaknesses in Wolfheart’s third full-length release.

Meaning ‘emptiness’ in the Finnish language, Tyhjyys captures the complexity of the word. Which may seem contradictory at first thought, but some listeners will understand perfectly. It stands out as a journey through the empty void that the prevailing theme of natures’ power is capable of evoking. Perhaps it’s reading too much into the album (and perhaps not) to say that it’s a powerful allegory in itself.

Tyhjyys isn’t an album that will turn a non-listener of the sub-genre into a fan of melo-death. It’s not an album that when given a superficial listen will warrant several replays. However, upon glimpsing beyond the surface, Tyhjyys is a bewitchingly somber, intricate, immersive album deserving of a thorough listen.

Best tracks: Shores Of Lake Simpele, Tyhjyys, Call Of The Winter

Horror Review: Patient Seven (2016)

Patient Seven turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable watch. The premise of the film involves a ‘renowned psychiatrist’ selecting the most dangerous (and perhaps creepy) patients at a mental hospital to interview for research purposes for an upcoming book.

If you haven’t done any prior research, you might be surprised to find that the film is actually an anthology of seven short horror films. Each has it’s merits, drawing on zombies, vampires, demons, ghosts, straight up murder and even some dark humour. Some of the segments are better than others but the real greatness of this movie is the way that all of the stories are tied together. It seems as if they were created as one cohesive film instead of coming from separate sources and being tied together afterwards.

Patient Seven started out a little painful, with the opening dialogue making me wonder if this would be worth watching. Once past the annoying introduction of Dr Paul Victor, Patient Seven quickly gained momentum. Introducing the patients as a way to introduce the individual short films became an intriguing way to wrap the stories into a neat package that held my interest until the very end of the film. With a good twist at the end, Patient Seven is actually somewhat brilliant when it comes to the genre of horror films.

Worth watching: Definitely

A Change Of Direction

I've decided to engage in a slight change of direction by including reviews and posts about the horror genre. Horror movies, horror fiction and horror art found their way into my life before I discovered my passion for metal music and indulging in the horror genre still commands a large part of my leisure time. In fact, a love of horror probably led to some of my interest in metal as many of the themes (particularly those found in death metal) and artwork tie together and draw influence from each other.

Expect to see a mix of both heavy metal and horror themed posts in the future. Enjoy!

Wolfchant - Bloodwinter Review

Track Listing:

1.    Nornensang
2.    Schicksalsmacht
3.    Wolfchant (A Wolf To Man)
4.    Das Bollwerk
5.      Bloodwinter
6.      Heritage Of Fire
7.      Sehnsucht
8.      Prelude To Revenge
9.     Anthems Of Revenge
10.   Am Schlachtfeld
11.    New Born Killer

‘Bloodwinter’ is Wolfchant’s redemption for (what I thought) was a weak offering on 2013’s ‘Embraced By Fire’. This album contains more of the old, familiar elements expected from Wolfchant. With a solid back-catalogue of albums, this German folk-metal band seems to have re-visited their roots with ‘Bloodwinter’. In comparison to their first few releases, the production is certainly more polished but this doesn’t detract from the overall sound as it sometimes can. This album feels effortless, with each element fitting together without overreaching.

The vocals really carry Wolfchant forward on ‘Bloodwinter’. Employing a mix of soaring clean vocals and harsh vocals in the right places, backed by galloping melodies, Wolfchant has succeeded in creating an album with an epic folk metal feel. The lyrics are a mixture of German and English, allowing accessibility for some and variety for others.  “Wolfchant (A Wolf To Man)” and “Bloodwinter” provide catchy choruses, easy to want to shout along to. In fact, the title track is one of the best of the album. With melodic keyboards, lofty vocals and subtle changes of pace, it would prove difficult not to like this song. Tracks like “Das Bollwerk” slow the pace without detracting from the energetic tempo of the album.

From start to finish, ‘Bloodwinter’ is a candid offering of folk metal. Overall, it’s a very symphonic album, without travelling into the realm of power metal (which is something that I personally didn’t appreciate with ‘Embraced By Fire’). It’s a tidy amalgamation of many of the components that make Wolfchant worth listening to and is a solid album to add to the collection of anyone who enjoys symphonic-tinged folk metal.

Best Tracks: Wolfchant (A Wolf To Man), Bloodwinter, Sehnsucht, New Born Killer

Evocation - 'Condemned To The Grave' Video

As a frequent listener of the Swedish variety of death metal, I have a hard time believing I haven't listened to more of Evocation's material. They're set to release a new album titled "The Shadow Archetype" on March 10th. After hearing the already released tracks, 'Condemned To The Grave' stands as my favourite so far.

Give 'Condemned To The Grave' a watch:

Mongol - 'River Child' (New Single)

A few days ago, Canadian folk-metal band Mongol brightened up the winter with their latest single titled 'River Child'. It's taken from their upcoming EP, "Warrior Spirit", which will see an April release. I always look forward to new material from this band as they always offer an energetic and intriguing brand of folk-metal. 

Vampire Set To Release Their Latest Offering

Vampire will be releasing their latest offering, titled 'With Primeval Force', on April 21st. When I want stripped down, raw, uncompromising death metal, I look to Vampire. Having thoroughly enjoyed their self-titled debut, I'm looking forward to the upcoming second album from these Swedes.

For a taste of what's in store, take a few minutes to listen to "Ghoul Wind", which will appear on 'With Primeval Force'.