Nightrage
Wolf to Man


3.3
great

Review

by Simon K. STAFF
March 31st, 2019 | 19 replies


Release Date: 2019 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Despite its fundamental flaws, Wolf to Man still manages to be a worthwhile album.

Wolf to Man is an excellent example of an album trying to do too much, too fast. On the one hand you have a foray of melodious Iron Maiden-esque solos that pull you into their serenade every time they take to the front of the stage; on the other you have said solos struggling like hell to get out of the cacophonous cluster the rest of the music presents. Making a consistent mood here would be impossible – the long buffet table of styles has no semblance of order, hearing all these ideas mushed together into one blaring racket. The biggest crux is most certainly its bizarre production choices. There’s no breathing room for anything on here, and while the guitar solos are the saving grace of Wolf to Man they don’t quite sit right in the mix over the chaotic explosions around them. “The Damned,” for example, is a jarring mesh of melodic death metal, post-hardcore and thrash being ground to bits with the same kind of subtlety, elegance and grace a shotgun blast to the ear would have. It’s not that the song is dull or bad either – far from it – it's that it comes across as a blind dive into everything at dizzying breakneck speeds without actually sitting back to assess if a little restraint could be had – or a few ideas reined in for certain things to deliver in more effective ways.

Sometimes Nightrage taps into something fantastic – certainly on a track like “Desensitized” with its opening verse of hardcore-tinged vocals and driving distorted bass, segueing into catchy melodic guitar passages and then finally finishing off with a couple of strong solos – but as a whole it’s quite a frustrating album because there’s so much potential to be had here. I was never bored listening to Wolf to Man, but equally, it was an overwhelming listen at times, too. The band have taken baby steps in terms of progression, but they’re irrefutably positive ones, to be sure. I can’t emphasis enough just how engaging the guitar leads are on this thing and it seems the band are fully aware of such strengths. For the most part the rest of the instruments here serve as a vehicle for vocals and the guitar duo, but when both parties do such a great job of holding your interest it’s plain to see why they went down this route. Overall, if you like melodic death metal with a twist you should get a great deal of enjoyment out of this, it’s just unfortunate that the album’s production and some of the band’s overly ambitious ideas fail to meet the record’s highlights.

FORMAT//EDITIONS: DIGITAL/̶/̶C̶D̶/̶/̶V̶I̶N̶Y̶L̶

PACKAGING: N/A

SPECIAL EDITION: N/A

ALBUM STREAM//PURCHASE: http://nightrage.tictail.com




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user ratings (22)
3.2
good

Comments:Add a Comment 
Voivod
Staff Reviewer
March 31st 2019


10916 Comments


Glad to see Marios and Co going strong.

DrGonzo1937
Staff Reviewer
March 31st 2019


18468 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

It’s decent man. Production is pretty bad imo though

TheNotrap
Staff Reviewer
March 31st 2019


19009 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Don't know these guys, I'll check

DrGonzo1937
Staff Reviewer
March 31st 2019


18468 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

you'll def dig this i think trap

InFlamesWeThrash666
March 31st 2019


10583 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

“Desensitized" sounds like old In Flames



Me likes

TheNotrap
Staff Reviewer
March 31st 2019


19009 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Noted Dr.

Will def check

Observer
Emeritus
March 31st 2019


9424 Comments


i remember enjoying this bands early albums. Still going, wow

TheNotrap
Staff Reviewer
March 31st 2019


19009 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Jamming now, the vocals remind me of At the Gates

InFlamesWeThrash666
March 31st 2019


10583 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

fun fact: At The Gates vocalist did the vocals for the first two Nightrage albums

TheNotrap
Staff Reviewer
March 31st 2019


19009 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

ha ok, the copy paste makes perfect sense now

alamo
April 1st 2019


5744 Comments


ohhhhhhh hype
singles sound really great cant wait to check the whole thing

heck
April 1st 2019


7197 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

where'd this come from? and their last album for that matter?



I didn't know these guys had released anything since The Puritan. it's like I just stopped hearing about them completely

frozencarl
April 1st 2019


1742 Comments


their last album is really good

RippingCorpse1986
April 2nd 2019


3229 Comments


I remember digging this band's previous album for a while. Nothing life-changing by any means, but still a solid slab of riff-driven, rocking melodic death metal. That album also has one of my favorite artworks of 2017.

Can't say I expect much from this, but will definitely jam it these days. Nice write-up as always.

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
April 2nd 2019


32115 Comments


"you have a foray of melodious Iron Maiden-esque solos..." Stop right there, I'm in.

DungeonBoy
April 3rd 2019


9931 Comments


Good review, this is a claustrophobic mess

Makes me want to jam the Tremor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n0vJbANIgk

cvlts
April 5th 2019


9943 Comments


definitely feelin some old-school slayer vibes with that album artwork

TheNotrap
Staff Reviewer
April 5th 2019


19009 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Good jam, nothing outstanding but the songs are all cool

Raz0rGrind23
April 17th 2019


464 Comments


Always dug these guys, even after Tompa departed from the group. Guitar work on this is a lot of fun. Gonna have to check this out.



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