For those that are familiar with Tuomas Saukkonen, it should be little surprise that there is another Wolfheart album coming out. Having churned out no fewer than five albums already with this band, the melodeath mastermind has once again crafted an album, but not in his usual style. Unlike albums of the past, there is a lot more going on under the hood with this album. Not least the fact that there’s guest musicians (a first for the band on their LPs) present in two of the tracks adding in some vocal tonality which slots in perfectly naturally.
Opener “Skyforger”, in my opinion, does drag the opening riffs for a little bit too long. It is a nice melody, however nearly 2 and half minutes of it is a bit much. The rest of the track however builds upon the back catalogue of the band to deliver the style of track you’d typically expect from the band. Blast-beats, harsh vocals from Tuomas, symphonic backing elements, excellent guitar solos from Vagelis and wait… clean vocals? Yes, that’s right. There’s clean vocals now but they fit rather perfectly into the mix, contrasting nicely against the harsh.
The album continues in a similar way with the blend of harsh and calm sitting just right across it. Tracks such as “Knell” and “Desolated Land” showcase these rather perfectly with the former bringing succulent piano melodies and clean vocals and the latter having more of a “Ghosts of Karelia” vibe with an overall faster pace and darker feel to it. Second single from the album, “The King” follows and serves to showcase the vocal abilities of lead guitarist Vagelis Karzis. And, as expected for those who are familiar with his work in other projects, he delivers a suitably fitting tonality which complements the track perfectly.
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“Cold Flame”, with its Before the Dawn-esque (they’re coming back, new single just dropped) opening and feel in parts, is arguably one of the standout tracks on the album. Combining the traditional elements you’d expect and merging them with both the new and a killer guest appearance of Karl Sanders, this is one that will appeal to both fans of the older material and the newer material. “Eternal Slumber” rounds out the album with a style that hearkens back to days of Tyhjyys with the darker melodies flanked by clean vocals and orchestral elements. It easily sounds like it could have been lifted from the aforementioned album, but , again, feels much more refined and balanced.
As with all Wolfheart albums, there is a certain aspect of familiarity when you come to listen to them. You know that you will be getting the blend of melodeath and blackened metal in parts which intertwines to form an enjoyable listen. With this album however, the band has incorporated much more than just the usual blend. The addition of cleaner vocals in more places, the guests on the tracks leads to the overall music just feeling a lot more refined.
Whilst it can be argued that six albums in you would expect this level of evolution, the changes that are on show are much more marked than before. The addition of Vagelis into the band in full this time around has brought some form of reinvigoration to the band. It would be unfair to say that King of the North is just another Wolfheart album. It is so much more than that.
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King of the North is out on September 16th
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