Wolfheart – Shadow World

[schema type=”review” name=”Wolfheart – Shadow World ” description=”Label: Spinefarm Records” author=”Basak Günel” pubdate=”2015-08-21″ ]

Wolfheart is a Finnish metal band formed by Tuomas Saukkonen, who is also known for his many projects like Black Sun Aeon and Before The Dawn. The band started as a solo project in 2013 but became a band in 2014. Surely, when we are talking about Mr. Saukkonen, the expectations are quite high; in every project, he manages to impress the fanbase and this has also been the case with Wolfheart.

After the release of the first album “Winterborn” (2013), Wolfheart is back with a new album “Shadow World”. At first listen, the album took me to the cold and gloomy Finnish winters; no wonder why the genre is called “winter metal”; the album’s sound definitely reflects that winter so well! From the first song “Aeon of Cold”, the listener is faced with that harsh/technical but the melodic sound; the fast drums and the guitars make a great combination with the vocals and this forms the highlight of the record. Another highlight of the album is definitely the piano in some songs like “Nemesis” and “Veri”. Especially, I really liked that a fast and technical album starts and ends with the piano, giving it a story/concept atmosphere and it feels like the listener goes through this hard and cold journey with a slow start and end.

Soundwise, the album is really well-produced and compared to the previous record, there is definitely an improvement in the band’s sound as well as the band/project’s character as a whole. One thing I also really like about Wolfheart is that although they blend different genres – doom/death and even black metal- in this album (and in general), the band has a unique sound that cannot be compared to other bands and this makes Wolfheart stand out. This aspect becomes clearer in “Shadow World”; each song tells a story and is a masterpiece on its own. So for those who have had high expectations (like me), you won’t be disappointed… it’s Tuomas Saukkonen we are talking about anyway!

Get ready to feel winter within your souls… Wolfheart is back and they are stronger and harsher than ever! “Shadow World” is definitely recommended for fans of Mr. Saukkonen’s projects and melodic death metal! My personal favorites are “Aeon of Cold”, “Resistance” and “Veri”.

Line up:
Tuomas Saukkonen – guitars, vocals
Mika Lammassaari – lead guitars
Joonas Kauppinen – drums
Lauri Silvonen – bass, backing vocals

Tracklist: 01. Aeon of Cold 02. Zero Gravity 03. Storm Centre 04. Last of All Winters 05. Nemesis 06. Abyss 07. Resistance 08. Veri

Links:
Wolfheart Facebook