Let’s do an imagination exercise here: Imagine you’ve never heard of WALSUNG before and you don’t know the quality of the work of the multi-instrumentalist OldWolf and you just want to hear Pagan Black Metal in the best possible quality… this album is for you!
We got “Werewolves of the Fullmoon” – a week before the world release – and how many things could I comment here, among them the quality of the work, the technique, the sound, the paganism. I also speak in musical terms, how much the passage of OldWolf in other projects of his, in other countries, the contact with Ukraine, for example, added to his creative imagination. And besides, paganism here isn’t the light, mainstream paganism that you find in Amon Amarth, we have something within the “Ancient Paganism” made by iceland elements like Drudkh, Astrofaes and Blood of Kingu. If I were to recommend this album, it would definitely be for those who listen to the most pure blood in European Black Metal.
The album is 31 minutes long, it’s four tracks. But he’s kaleidoscopic, the tracks mix and the sound brings a little of everything that Oldwolf absorbed in their musical trajectory, old wolf I admire! Let `s start?
“Awaken Conscious” begins with a strummed intro and breaks out into a lilting, thought-provoking black metal. The atmosphere here has a lot of Perpetual Blood stuff, but it’s heavily influenced by the splits Walsung released between the first album and this one, like Path of the Dead Forest with Blutfahne. The cadence and weight make it an apotheosis of sensations, it’s an intense track lasting more than eight minutes and showing a lot of versatility and several harmonic variations. It has elements that remind “Forest’s Whisper” from the first album, strong point!
“Werewolves of Fullmoon” takes its name from the album and it’s not by chance. High level Pagan Black Metal. I remember OldWolf showing me excerpts from a rehearsal and even commenting that the new album would be denser than the previous one, it really is. Sharp riffs alternate with vocals shouted at the top of their lungs. Oldwolf didn’t skimp on creativity and talent here. I highlight Nidhogg’s nervous and well-executed drums that add even more depth and aggressiveness to the track. It was born classic and won’t be missing from Walsung’s setlists for sure. The lyrics are a cult of ancestry and an attraction apart.
“The Black Curtain” has an interesting and intense variation, it has the extreme feel of “Werewolves of Fullmoon” and at the same time it manages to embrace the cadence of “Awaken Conscious“; With a very 90s Black Metal riff in the line Mayhem, Burzum and Satyricon, it reminds a lot of the intoxicating riffs of The Shadowthrone and Dark Medieval Times. Drums open an invocation prelude in which OldWolf can unload what he knows best: creative, rhythmic, melodic and aggressive riffs with an icy and timeless essence. I heard this track 5x in a row while doing the review and what I can say is that today we have more than consolidated in Brazilian lands as one of the strongholds of Pagan Metal worldwide. HAIL WALSUNG! HAIL WEREWOLVES OF FULLMOON!
“Last Breath of a Nation” is an anthem. I could finish the review here. We have a glimpse of her in “Hyperborean Tales“, there with more than 10 minutes in length and varied arrangements. I really liked this track and the clothing it has, one more proof of its versatility, especially the riff of this anthem, it’s something amazing and overwhelming, how much Oldwolf managed to mix Walsung’s aggressiveness with the energy of a rigorous Pagan Metal making the track sound integrally like a cog with the entire album. The album is an enigma: its 30 minutes are transformed into something bigger, intense and that portrays the mark of an era: A dividing line between extreme metal and the fragile modern world that surrounds it.
And then? What can I say more about this album, which was already born a very well made classic, well elaborated and with a European rigor of the best quality? If you’ve never listened to WALSUNG and listen to this album, you’ll want to purchase the previous releases and soon you’ll be like me with the tapes, cds, splits and LPs coming out soon – I’m looking forward to Perpetual Blood LP by Hammer Of Damnation, and by the way, the cover is impeccable and adds even more value to Oldwolf’s work.
Besides, you’ll want to follow OldWolf in its various projects, different styles and then you’ll understand why we have in Brazil today one of the great musical authorities of the extreme Brazilian scene….King Midas’ touch is intrinsic to the creativity of this metal legend extreme.
RATE: 666
You can check the full album HERE!
