Review Summary: Black Death Thrash Hard
In your face, bam boo ya, and boya bing! are amongst many adjectives used to describe "Cycle of the Werewolf". First of all, literal winter wolves are bad ass, but werewolfs, whether summer, winter, or fall, own all. Yes that rhymed, but Winterwolfe jives. In the most simplest of terms, this albums is all about the riffs and production. The sludge factor is slimy and sexual. The riffs are always pursuing evil tremolos and occasional catchy riffs like the ones found in "Lycanthropic Aeons"; I was not expecting a "South of Heaven" riffs to be thrown so perfectly amongst the heavy madness. I went straight from head banging to face smashing.
The drums are very solid and back up the riffs when they are being repeated, adding a bit of a loose end pick up that allows them to truly shine. There's a heavy amount of groove to be found on the cymbals and ride as well; I appreciated that these elements were placed lower in the mix so as not to punish your ears so bad, letting the bass, riffs, and vox to be in the forefront.
"nataS fo tsaeB", which is Beast of Satan backwards is a true anthem. When you hear Tommi Virranta growl "Beast of Satan" you can really feel the passion behind this bands beliefs, making the lyrics more presentable in an anthem type of way; as several track titles are chanted on various songs. The vocals really are an enjoyable factor here, almost always going with the beat of the presented riff but never becoming stagnant as grooves back them up ever so nicely.
The length of "Cycle of the Werewolf" is very appropiate and never over stays its welcome. I can't help but listening to this at least 3 times through on every attempt. Only ice cream is that inviting. To top things off, like the cherry on top, a Bolt Thrower cover is added as the conclusion track which fits soooo nicely in the stream of things.
With a solid blend of heavy elements and delicious song writing, "COTW" can really be considered as a modern classic which makes me wanna 5 this so bad but the troll police will call me out on it.
