wolf legions of bastards

Released: 25 April 2011 Label: Century Media

You really can’t argue with Wolf. You could try, but you would fail. Such is their devotion to their true metal cause, you would simply become an irrelevant non-believer ripe for the taking.

But why would you want to argue anyway? Any comments about their apparent lack of originality and their reliance on metal clichés would only become redundant in the face of the blistering attack offered by the eleven songs which make up album number six from these Swedish traditionalists.

If you’ve followed Wolf’s career from their eponymous debut back in 2000, you will have a pretty sound idea of what to expect and that’s exactly what you get with no surprises and no frills. The familiar references to Priest, Maiden and Accept remain unchanged, with Wolf’s only intention being to blast you with riff after riff of crushing metal.

That said, this isn’t a band standing still either. The lead vocals of Niklas Stalvind continue to improve in both depth and range, while the band has collectively honed its songwriting craft to great effect. It’s revealing that whereas previous Wolf albums had occasional lacklustre moments, Legions of Bastards stands loud and proud without any filler.

From the high octane speed metal attack of soon to be live anthem Skullcrusher through to the more restrained but no less punishing Jekyll and Hyde, this is an unadulterated romp through familiar metal territory that simply does the business from first note to last with no fuss and no messing. 

Whinge all you want about having heard it all before. The only thing that matters is that when it comes to pure, straight down the line heavy metal, few are doing it better than Wolf.

by Marcus Jervis