Artist: Wolfchant
Label: Massacre Records
Release: 2009
Runtime: 61:09
Rating: 3/5
Lately we’re stuck with the plain fact that it’s really hard to find a newly released metal album that clearly stands out in quality from the whole crowd of releases of every kind. Albums are solid, average, some better, some worse, but none of them is special in any way anymore. So bands keep going for crossbreeding different approaches, trying to carve out a spot for themselves under the free sun.
That’s how the term “pagan” metal started popping up in the first half of this decade. You could describe it as an extremely softened form of black metal, varying in how much traditional old-school heavy metal grip it has and how much folk it throws in (including the use of some “extravagant instruments). Wolfchant are among those pagan metallers who lean more on traditional riff-slinging vows. So they’re closer to the camp of the Finns Ensiferum or Tyr than, say, the Swiss Eluveitie.
The Germans keep getting better from record to record. Compared to the last one, the new record brings a bold upgrade in the arrangement of harmonized guitar triplets, and the production brings the battle atmosphere to life even more successfully. Even the lost-and-found ex-Grave Digger guitarist Uwe Lulis (Paragon, Rebellion) stepped in to help shape the album (both the sound and the arrangements). There are moments on the record that stand out in quality from the rest of the material. One of those is the excellent charging march World In Ice. A classic heavy metal approach that veers toward Running Wild territory is captured in Kein Engel hört dich flehen (the thing comes back later in the opening of Auf Blut Gebaut, which is then wrecked by a ton of blast beats). The genericness is nicely overcome by a battle-ready Viking atmosphere and the standard fury of black metal retching (not singing). Right after Kein Engel hört dich flehen, A Raven’s Flight builds on that military atmosphere with even more Celtic folk guitar melodies, while Never Too Drunk could win over a Turisas fan or two. Schwerter der Ende reeks irreversibly of Uwe Lulis having had his fingers in it 100%. The sound of the riff, the way the riff itself is set up, and the sound and principle of the guitar ornamentation all recall what Uwe breathed into the Grave Digger records in the nineties. Take the intro of Devour as an example, too.
On the other hand, there’s a track like Fate Of Fighting Man, which is even bold enough that in the chorus the guys treat themselves to melodic clean singing accompanying the guttural black metal vocals. Those melodic choirs come off as silly, because they take away the aggression, power and darkness that the atmosphere of albums like this absolutely has to have. On top of that, it’s a rehash of generic principles that only steal the listener’s time. So, the less successful experiment of the new album.
Of course, Wolfchant are real pups next to the pioneering achievements of the black metal bands of the nineties, but still. Quality is dropping across all metal genres. Albums are pricier, harder and harder to afford, and they offer less and less. But that’s how all of global capitalism is going down the drain. Slowly. Nice and slowly…
“Determined Damnation” also suffers from having too many tracks. The songs start repeating each other motif-wise. They copy off one another. Given that the tracks swing in quality, the guys could easily have dropped three songs and still banged out a decent 43 or 45 minutes of music with eleven. Regardless, Wolfchant’s new album is a step up for the band, especially in the strength of the arrangements themselves and an even more convincing production, but it brings no creative breakthrough to the heavy metal field, rather it cements the position of a band that’s very popular among fans in Germany. When dwarves down the mine who love traditional heavy metal get angry and decide they want to play “black metal”, you get Wolfchant. Nothing special, but solid.
Line-up
Lokhi – vocals
Skaahl – guitar
Derrmorh – guitar
Bahznar – bass
Norgahd – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Uwe Lulis – guitar
Michael Seifert – vocals
Track list
1. Determination Begins
2. World In Ice
3. Until The End
4. Determined Damnation
5. In War
6. Fate Of The Fighting Man
7. Kein Engel Hort Dich Flehen
8. A Raven’s Flight
9. Never Too Drunk
10. Schwerter Der Erde
11. Auf Blut Gebaut
12. Under The Wolves’ Banner
13. Devour (Bonus)
14. Warcry (Bonus)
