Wolf – Legions of Bastards

Releasedate: 22-04-2011; Label: Century Media
By: Brandy Cross

Wolf are a 4 piece Swedish metal band dedicated to bringing back the hard and heavy sounds of 80’s metal. Their self titled 2000 album showed that they were doing just that; Wolf’s heavy guitars and screaming edgy vocals make the cut; A real blast from the past.

Wolf’s newest album, “Legions of Bastards” is their first album in two long years and long awaited; some might have expected the band to change or to loose quality during this time but not Wolf. They manage to keep everything together and sound just as good, if not better, than previous albums.
‘Legions of Bastards’ starts off with “Vicious Companions”, a guitar driven metal song that will have you on your feet, head banging like it was 1984. Skull Crusher is no less fun, think Man-O-War/Iron Maiden/Dokken riff based metal. Full Moon Possession is where you really hear those 80’s style drums; those and the bass seem to have the lead for most of the riff; and it sounds GREAT!!!Vocals are fast, edgy and delivered with all of the power and passion that could be expected. Jekyll and Hyde is probably one of the most rhythmic tracks on the album. It starts right out with a heavy, driven riff including lead guitar and lots of bass. Absinthe is the metal that your parents would yell at you to turn down… or the neighbors. Tales from the Crypt starts out with a ‘cool’ (there’s no other way to describe it) intro and blasts into a metal riff with lead guitar. Nocturnal Rites starts off with a Queensryche style intro and blasts into a full blown rocker which flows right into Road to Hell; starts off heavy and stays that way. False Preacher doesn’t let down on the tempo and rocks all the way through; Iron Maiden Style. Hope to Die brings back the lead guitar and 80’s style chorus; and finally K-141 Kursk ends the album with more badass metal. This is a great quality album from an awesome band. If you are looking for either ballads or filler… Look elsewhere.

Line Up:
Niklas Stålvind – lead vocals and guitars
Johannes Axeman – guitars and backing vocals
Anders Modd – bass guitar
Richard Holmgren – drums

Tracklist: 01.Vicious Companions 02.Skull Crusher 03.Full Moon Possession 04.Jekyll & Hyde 05.Absinthe 06.Tales from the Crypt 07.Nocturnal Rites 08.Road to Hell 09.False Preacher 10.Hope to Die 11.K-141 Kursk

Links:
Wolf Official