Album Review: Wolf - Feeding The Machine
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
I’ve been listening to this release for a couple of weeks now and it’s a real earworm. Album number eight for the Swedes who are rapidly heading to the veteran status with nearly 25 years in the business and they show no sign of slowing down or reducing the quality. Indeed, their recent show at The Fleece in Bristol where they kicked off their support slot to Grand Magus proved that the heartbeat is still very much pumping at full speed.
Formed in a time when the classic heavy metal sound was almost an anathema, Wolf have always ignored fashion and drawn proudly from their influences. The sounds of Maiden, Metal Church, Mercyful Fate and Judas Priest along with a good serving of classic speed metal remain evident on their music and this album maintains that approach. It is a solid slab of heavy metal.
A punchy one-two opens ’Feeding the Machine’; ‘Shoot to Kill’ a trademark and solid opener whilst ‘Guillotine’’’ with its pacey tempo is more towards the Megadeth style. Immediate, catchy and memorable, Wolf have managed to once more thread several hooks to their songs which snag the listener, refusing to let go. ‘Dead Man’s Hand’ has a neat tempo change, a track that Metal Church would quite rightly be happy to be associated with. ‘Midnight Hour’ chugs nicely, the structure simple yet efficient. Further into the album and we encounter the darkly melodic ‘The Cold Emptiness’, which moves away from the traditional sound whilst retaining enough identity. The title track is a tasty slab of thrash, anthemic with plenty of galloping riffs which drive the track forward. I’m not so fussed on ‘Spoon Bender’, although the tracks either side of it, ‘Devil In the Flesh’ and the vibrant, fast paced ‘The Raven’ are both infectious with their powerful, aggressive attack
Their first album since 2014’s ‘Devil Seed’, this latest release sees a rejuvenated line-up in the latest chapter of Wolf. Vocalist Niklas Stålvind and guitarist Simon Johansson have been joined by Pontus Egberg (King Diamond) on bass and drummer Johan Koleberg (ex-Therion, ex-Lion’s Share). Recorded at SolnaSound (guitarist Simon’s own studio), mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman (At The Gates, In Flames, Arch Enemy), and with gloriously morbid artwork by the legendary Thomas Holm (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond), ‘Feeding the Machine’ is an album that pulls no punches. What you see is what you get. And that ain’t no bad thing whatsoever.
‘Feeding the Machine’ is released on 13th March by Century Media
