Hellride review of Wolf´s Return
Chris Barnes
Two big events here that are worth a special mention: Grand Magus release the Heavy Metal album we all knew they were capable of and Candlelight license something where we can actually understand the vocalist. A banner day for both camps.
In the year of our Lord 1996, Grand Magus came together from the frozen North to bring “Black Magick” rock to a gaggle of unsuspecting ears. One of those ears belonged to Cathedral/ex-Napalm Death vocalist/underground icon Lee Dorrian who in his sage wisdom, released the doomy groove blues of their self-titled debut and the Blackmore-on-downers classic rock feel of Monument. Both undisputedly solid releases, if not for the music then for the epic vocals of JB. Vocals so epic, it also landed him a front man role in Mike Amott’s 70’s shredder- syndicate Spiritual Beggars. JB has some pipes.
Despite the wealth of music on the first two, there were often times that I wished the band would turn whole-notes into half-notes, and half-notes into quarter-notes and quarter-notes to.… in short, speed the fuck up. The Grand Mag’s seemed to have caught onto this without my input, because Wolf’s Return flows nicely from uptempo Viking doom metal (the spectacular “Kingslayer”, “Repay In Kind”, and back-cover story teller “Blood Oath”) to slow-to-mid-paced epics (jaw-dropping title track “Wolf’s Return”, “Ashes”, “Light Hater”, “Wolf’s Return Part II”). The most noticeable change is that the band seems to have dropped the stoner blues aesthetic of the first two for a noticeably – and much appreciated – dose of classic Heavy f’n Metal.
The added aspects of tempo and sound, however, would be nothing if it weren’t for the vocals of JB. The man is blessed with a voice that should be showcased echoing through barren forest valleys on frigid winter days. OK, this is a weird comparison, but JB sounds like David Clayton-Thomas crossed with the Janne Bengtsson from the late, great Half Man. Soulful, natural and extremely powerful.
OK, now that I’ve more than likely lost ¾ of you due to obscure references to even more obscure bands that no longer exist, I’m going to cut it short. Wolf’s Return is a mutha of a heavy music album that I’m betting will propel them from “another stoner band” to a metal audience favorite. Pick it up.
http://www.hellridemusic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6922
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