Review Summary: Melodic thrash roots sprinkled with power metal brawn
With their sophomore album and first to come out in a decade, Austria’s Wildhunt seems to be leaning more on their power metal influences. Their thrash roots are still outstretched with much of the guitar work inspired by bands like Testament, Annihilator, and Metal Church, but the thicker tones shaped by a sturdier production job brings out an almost epic metal veneer. It reminds me of how Manilla Road dabbled in thrash circa Mystification with additional flair of Satan, Eternal Champion, Ironsword, or Running Wild.
That extra muscle gives the musicianship a burly demeanor while still maintaining a sense of class. The bass gets a serious boost with a booming presence that puts it on equal terms with the rhythm guitars, giving even more room for the leads to flourish with elegant harmonies and solos. The vocals also benefit from a more upfront presence, admittedly showing a somewhat limited range with some of the more melodic segments but benefit from some solid conviction.
It’s also interesting to note how the songwriting comes out more dynamic than 2016’s Descent despite a much shorter forty-two minutes runtime compared to that album’s near hour. You can certainly pick up a more trained ear on atmosphere as invoked by the dreamy clean guitars and gradually building crunch on the opening instrumental “Touching The Ground,” setting the stage for the chunky power-thrash on lead single “The Holy Pale.” This also has the effect of the pacing admittedly drag at times, especially with some of the long-winded structures to factor in.
I also appreciate the more overtly classic metal spirit that comes as the album’s back half fluctuates to more mid-tempo frameworks. I do find myself wishing “In Frozen Dreams” had a more ear-catching hook to go with its Dio-esque stomp, but its speedy climax does feel fairly earned. Fortunately, the title track seems to be more committed to the idea with a more scaled back march that lets its bellowing vocals come out stronger.
While Aletheia could’ve benefited from some snappier songwriting, it does well in re-establishing Wildhunt with potentially more than they let on. Their melodic thrash roots are enough to draw my interest with how rare those variations can seem and it’s easy to wonder how intentionally the epic metal elements were carried out. It’s easy to see how the formula could be reconciled even smoother going forward, which is enough to make me hope it won’t be another decade for their third.
