By Rob Thompson
If you’re unfamiliar with the retro metal world of Sweden’s Wolf here are some fun facts:
- - They play traditional heavy metal.
- - They formed in 1995.
- - They have released six studio albums so far, Devil Seed via Century Media Records is their seventh.
- - They have toured with the likes of Saxon, Evile, Tankard and Trivium.
- - The band graduated from No Fashion Records to Century Media by the time 2006’s The Black Flame was released.
- - Guitarist/vocalist Niklas ‘Viper’ Stålvind is the one constant member.
- - They kick ass.
Wolf worship at the altar of classic metal bands of yesteryear so as you would expect Devil Seed is a solid slab of traditional heavy metal: a tremendous mix of satisfying riffs mixed in with a few elements of power metal too, thrown in for good measure. Solos are varied, drumming is thunderous and the vocals have been forged in the fires of NWOBHM (which we all know and agree upon was the very best genre of metal).
As with previous Wolf releases, Devil Seed doesn't deviate much from a well worn template. It’s an atomic explosion of old school metal energy, although the band clearly don’t take themselves too seriously. For example, the first track is an instrumental called ‘Overture In C Shark’; full of melody, harmony and the sort of hooks that bounce around your skull long after the album is ended. This track leads into the screaming 'Shark Attack' – which is about sharks, who attack, albeit at a rather a mid-tempo, fist pumping pace.
To do a track by track review would be almost pointless as they are follow the same blueprint which means that to the casual listener the tracks and subject matter of the songs may incorrectly appear somewhat shallow and insignificant but listen again and you’ll hear original and fresh ideas. For example, Wolf introduce some nice unexpected touches such as a blend of cosmic keyboards mingled in with Spanish guitar’s in the track 'Skeleton Woman', and 'I Am Pain' has a very Celtic sound to it.
There’s a nice balance to the album too with some of the more raging tracks being offset by slower more thoughtful numbers. This album is the real deal, a complete work which the band can be proud of.
The cover of the album too reflects its name; it has an alien embryo/sperm curled up and ready to spring into life (this is bound to sell a few t-shirts for the guys). Although I did prefer previous album covers that the band has released, such as Legions of Bastards probably because it was more reminiscent of the type of thing a band from the early to mid 1980s would have produced.
The other impressive aspect of this release are the high production values. I listened to this album on headphones and you can hear every part of every song crisply and clearly. It’s also fun to try to spot the influences too: some tracks sound like Maiden, some more like Priest, some have elements of Accept or Rainbow and there’s even some Mercyful Fate/King Diamond in here too.
In summary, if you claim to like metal then you really should like Wolf: put on your denim and leather, pick up some beers and rock the air guitar like its 1989 once again.
PS. Wolf also have a spiky metal logo too, so you can’t go wrong really.
