Review Summary: The second full-length release by the unfortunately over-shadowed band Wolfchant.
It seems today that people jump to wild and ridiculous conclusions and shove a knife to your throat if they think that you might have possibly hinted at something that may have been slightly insulting to something they believe in. One of the first things I encountered when listening to Wolfchant, was an obnoxious crowd of people proclaiming this band as anti-Christian and satanic. Being a very strong Christian (ironic, considering my musical tastes) I decided to delve deeper. It didn’t take long to realize that these people were idiots. After carefully reviewing the lyrics I noticed the following: the only song that has any sort of Christian reference is "Clan of the Cross." many people jumped to the conclusion that because of this song that they are anti-Christian, based on lines like "you are hated, you are feared." I decided to do some homework. This song is based around the point of view of a Slavic warrior during the time of the crusades who watches in horror as his people are murdered, raped because of their pagan beliefs. Picture this: barbarians bust down your door one day, murder your children, rape your wife, burn down your house and your supposed to love them? Hell no.
The only reason I went to all this trouble is because I was actually impressed by this band. They arent especially unique, but they blend several things into their music that appeals to me.
The Vocals of Wolfchant are one of my favorite parts of the band. Lohki's vocals change from song to song, unleashing a torrent of intense, ragged screams (similar to those of Oli Sykes) one minute and spitting out dense guttural growls the next. The one thing that makes him a standout is his capability to blend his vocal styles. He fuses the high pitched tones of his screams, with the darker sound of his growling to create a unique vocal style I call scrowling (because greaming sounds gay). This style is really brought to life in "I Am War." Also, at times Lohki's voice sound's very similar to that of Jeff Walker. Fortunately for us, the lyrics throughout this album are an unintelligible mess of noise, considering the lyrics are simply an hour long epic tale of revenge, booze and Odin. However after listening to the album many times more, I have grown to love the ridiculous lyrical themes.
The guitarists of Wolfchant arent exceptional musicians but they definitely have the folk theme down cold. Each of the songs features its own unique tune that sounds like it should have been played on a lute. I know this isn’t unique among Folk Metal bands, but considering I'm new to the genre it’s still refreshing to listen to after hours of increasingly formulaic death metal riffs. If you’re looking for gruesome and/or wickedly fast guitar tones, go somewhere else.
I consider the drumming to be exceptionally standard, considering I never noticed it. Although it may sound like a slight at Wolfchant's drummer Norgahd, it isn’t. There are only two times I will ever unwillingly notice a drummer: 1. if the drummer is very talented 2.fIf the drummer is being loud and obnoxious, (almost deliberately) destroying the beat of the song and completely screwing things up. Most often, its number 2 that gets my attention. I absolutely hate songs with clashing drums and guitars, which is probably why I like this band. There is zero clash between the two instruments throughout this album.
I enjoyed this album, despite the fact that it’s an hour long, and has several songs that are in or approaching the "way too long" area. It’s not amazing but its pretty damn good as far as folk metal goes.
Standout Tracks:
I Am War
Blood for Blood
Clankiller
