Voelker are hailing from USA and I must admit that I don’t really know much about this band besides that this is their brand new opus containing eleven songs. Music can be described are American school of thrash metal, Bay Area style, but also having a lot of other influences. For example I can hear NWOBHM in some guitar work, also there are lots of prog metal elements in songwriting, but making it more interesting to listen to. Lyrics deal with some personal stuff, but also with lots of current world themes, survival, war, politics, corruption and having almost punk political vibe. One of my personal favorites for sure is ‘One Percent’ being almost ballad at the start of the song, but evolving into angry thrash metal with mid tempo to double bass insanity mayhem. Guitar solos are great in all songs, having that melodic hooks and vibes, vocals also fit perfectly to this kind of metal. Some other songs mentioned as highlights are ‘Put’Em All To Sleep’, ‘Good As Gone’. Great and varied album.
Kings of metal are back with their new opus and it is an e.p. with three songs plus two spoken words. You guessed it from the title, this time our warriors deal with Homer´s timeless epic work, Odysseus and his adventures being the centrepoint of this heavy metal epic opus. Athena´s Theme is an instrumental atmospheric synth intro for Telemachus-Part I, being spoken word in Greek, for which recording Manowar traveled all the way to Greece and they brought help of, among others, none other than Sakis Tolis, mastermind of Greek legends Rotting Christ. Where Eagles Fly is a power true metal ballad with dual vocals of Eric Adams and guest Chiara Tricarico interplay making goosebumps on my skin and my old warrior heart weeping with joy. Odysseus And Calypso is another spoken word by Kostas Kazatos reminding a lot of Orson Welles back in the day. Immortal closes this e.p. and it is an epic anthem in Manowar style just made for enjoying live. I am happy for this e.p. but it is rather a teaser than trailer, with very little music and too much spoken word.
WarWolf are hailing from Cologne, Germany and this is their debut full length opus. The band was formerly known as Wolfen from 1994 to 2021. This one contains ten songs. The music of WarWolf can be described as old school Teutonic heavy metal with a steely breath of power metal thrown in the song structures for good measure. If I must describe it and compare it to some band it would be a mixture of Grave Digger and Wizard. The first comparison is in order, because the album is produced by none other than Chris Bolthendal, Grave Digger singer. The music is up tempo, warrior stomping metal, with great melodies and vocals that are not so high and screaming but singing, tough yet melodic. Lyrics deal with vampires and werewolves, kind of Underworld movie thematics with songs like Daywalker, Nosferatu, Clan Of The Undead being highlights of this album for me. The title song, besides being the longest song on this opus is also a bit similar in parts to Sign Of The Cross by Iron Maiden. Maybe it is just me, but I can hear similarities in some parts. In all, this is a decent metal album. Nothing special, but decent.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 