WOLFLUST – Endless War

There are some bands that appear on the scene from time to time and give you that unconscious feeling of “There’s no way this project won’t work”. That was exactly my impression with Wolflust ; From the first moment, when I saw the announcement that this project was born, I saw the name, the musical proposal, the band’s logo and mainly I saw who were the musicians involved, I was absolutely sure that very good things were coming. and knew that heaven, or rather hell would not be the limit for these guys. Formed in 2017 by two veterans of the scene, the guitarist and vocalist Cernunnos, who has played in bands such as the destroyer Hurtgen and the drummer Trojillo, who has in his curriculum bands such as Industrial Noise and the late Cauterization, the band’s first official record was a cover version for the track “Sacrifice” by the legendary Bathory that was released in the Brazilian tribute to the band in 2019 showing how the chemistry between these two guys was perfect from the first moment since the version they made for this classic was already impregnated with a The band’s very own sound, something that was confirmed the following year with the release of “Satanic Megatons”, an MCD with an intro, four original songs and the aforementioned Bathory cover, which in just seventeen minutes managed to show all the violence and destructive power that the band had. And behold, in the present year of 2022, the band releases another MCD, the obliterator “Endless War” that arrives to consolidate the sound of the band that manages to be so full of identity and individuality but still bring clear and obvious inspirations from personal tastes. of the musicians. This characteristic of the band in bringing the influences of the artists that inspired them, going through the guys’ personal filter and creating something of their own can already be seen in the title and cover art of “Endless War”, a superb work by the artist Marcos Miller that directly refers to the classic “Endless Pain” by the masters of German Thrash Metal Kreator in a total war version. In fact, the tributes don’t stop there and the band itself says in the booklet that “Endles War was conceived as a tribute to the 80’s and 90’s when metal was made of steel, hate and blood”. The layout of the work is eye-catching with all information and lettering being handwritten by artist Ihasan Art, all in an eight-page booklet and a beautiful inverted cross slipcase. About the musical part, the intro “The unholy birth\The new age has arrived” seems to transport us to a moment before the scene portrayed in the cover art of “Endless War” happens and it is very intriguing the feeling of continuity and connection that intro and cover art seem to share and which continues on the track “Destroyer – Vengeance of the Blackened Beast” which starts as a hail of heavy caliber bullets with a riff in a totally Marduk style and the drums with supersonic double bass and blasphemous lyrics claiming that “This is the vengeance of the blackened beast, turning the holy temples to dust”; Interesting use of varied vocals going from harsher to louder tones and even some more “demonic”. In this first song we can already see what is the greatest attribute of the guitarist Cernunnos, his ability to transition from Death to Black Metal with an ease that few can and without ever sounding forced. Another thing to point out is his quality as a composer, bringing some slower moments to the track that greatly enrich the band’s sound. This, by the way, is a very interesting point because we often have musicians who are great in their instruments but are not good composers, something that doesn’t happen with Wolflust because we have two excellent instrumentalists who understand like few others how to write a song. Then we have the band’s version of the Sarcófago track “Satanic Lust” which was released on the classic “I.N.R.I”, was revisited on the album “The Worst” and which here won a disgracefully impressive drum work. I’ve always admired Trojillo as a musician and he already impressed me as a drummer at the time of Cauterization, but his work on Wolflust seems much less contained and much more explosive, even though this explosion has a very controlled destructive force as we can see in the details he puts in his drum lines throughout the tracks and which on a less attentive first listen may go unnoticed. Listen to the track “Unmerciful Shattered Dawn” and you’ll understand what I mean; this is the most overwhelming composition of “Endless War” and doesn’t give you a second of rest being pure destruction and chaos from the first to the last note, highlighting the guitar solo by Cernunnos that causes shivers down the spine. Contrasting with the unbridled speed of this composition, we have the cover version of the track “Total War”, originally by the Swedish band War, with its more cadenced and groove-filled beginning and which for me is the biggest highlight among all the tracks. Honestly in my personal opinion I dare say that here we have one of those rare cases where the version was better than the original. Finally we have a live version of the classic “Blasphemer” by Sodom that is dedicated to the old school crowd and that starts with a scream of “Puta que pariu” coming from someone crazy in the audience and that managed to translate well the atmosphere of the presentation that took place. at Necropole Hall last March. By the way, this complete Wolflust show will also be released on a live CD very soon and that can be purchased along with Black Metal Terror Magazine issue 3. I have a strange predilection for MCDs because is a format that bands manage to transform into very special items, either by exploring the limits of their sound, often crossing some barriers, or by including cover versions of other bands, as is the case here and also for the shorter time and if fits perfectly to my fast-paced routine; But the fact is that without a doubt “Endless War” enters my list of the best Brazilian releases of 2022 and I just don’t put it as the best because the year still It’s not over, but it’s going to be hard for any band to top what was shown in those sixteen minutes of destruction. Another cannon shot in the face that the “Hammer of Damnation” fires. Mandatory.