Finland’s Winterwolf are a band that I expected to garner more attention from the death metal faithful.  The band features two former members of Demilich, and their debut full length Cycle of the Werewolf is practically a clinic on how to do old-school death metal the right way.  So here I sit, nearly a year after it’s initial CD release wondering how the hell this album flew under so many people’s radar.

The album starts of on somewhat shaky ground, with a growled/spoken intro that sounds more than a little goofy.  Thankfully, when these guys get down to business they unleash a torrent of gore drenched fury that few active death metal bands are capable of matching.   The guitar tone on Cycle of the Werewolf is a dead ringer for the old Sunlight Studios sound.  Not uncommon these days, but the gravely low end rumble that accompanies it here creates a particularly caustic sound.  Winterwolf’s defining trait would have to be the vocals.  Lead vocalist Corpse uses a deep traditional death growl, this is paired with the puss-chugging gurgle of former Demilich vocalist Antti Boman, who is credited as Abomanitor here.  This trade off of low, and ridiculously low vocals works like a charm, adding a lot of character to the album.

Looking at the actual songs, Cycle of The Werewolf is a remarkably consistent ride.  The album is almost entirely mid-tempo, but Winterwolf works through the whole range of what most people would consider mid-tempo.  It is hard to really even pick highlights.  I could point to the menacing rumble of “Lycanthropic Aeons,” or the blood curdling vocal trade-offs in “Phantoms of Madness,” or maybe the skull-splitting grooves that worm their way into “All Shall Be Eaten” and “Wolf Skin Mask.”  In truth, every track stands out in its own way.  Cycle of the Werewolf closes with a very well-executed cover of Bolt Thrower’s “Cenotaph,” a welcome addition to just about any album.

I will be the first to admit that I am a huge death metal fan, and a fan of this type of death metal in particular.  Still, it is rare for an album to hit me as hard as Cycle of the Werewolf did. Outside of the absurd intro track, this album is perfectly constructed, and extremely well executed.  The only real knock that I can think of is the lack of originality, but if you go into an album like this looking for something original you have already missed the point.   Cycle of The Werewolf should be mandatory listening for fans of traditional, nasty sounding death metal.  I can say with confidence that this album would have made my year end list, if I had not disqualified it due to the limited LP release in late 2009.  

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Intro to Death
2.  Phantoms of Madness
3.  Cemetary by Night
4.  Lycanthropic Aeons
5.  nataS fo tsaeB
6.  All Shall Be Eaten
7.  Shadows, Howling and Doom
8.  Wolf Skin Mask
9.  Return to the Shadow of Death
10.  Cenotaph (Bolt Thrower cover)

Total playing time: 40:30

Release Date: April, 2010
Label: Xtreem Music

Winterwolf - Cycle of the Werewolf

Reviewer: Garett

April 20, 2011