Metal Reviews
Metal Reviews
SEASONS OF THE WOLF |
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Seasons Of The Wolf
are : This CD was recorded at Telstar Studio, Sarasota, Fl. by Seasons Of The Wolf. Produced by Bud Snyder and Seasons Of The Wolf. Engineered and Mixed by Bud Snyder. The tracks are : The Seasons Of The Wolf CD starts off with a track entitled 'Victim Of Darkness'. This is an excellent track with some great vocals, great keyboards and great guitar. 'October Moon' is a good track with some nice changes in tempo. Track 3 is 'Misty Shades Of Green'. This is a great track with some nice keyboards and superb guitars. Next track is 'Electric Dimension', This is an excellent track, the best on the album. A slower track at times, but with some nice changes in tempo. The vocals on this track are superb from Wes. There are some nice changes in direction and mood and some superb guitar playing. 'Long Cold Winter'. Another great track with a superb guitar solo. '10,000 - 10,000'. This is a great track with some nice guitar. And finally 'Quiet Earth'. A good track with some nice vocals, great guitar. Overall this is a superb debut album from Seasons Of The Wolf. Great songs, Great guitar, Great vocals. We have here a band with good songwriting ability and musicianship. I can't wait for their new release which is coming soon. Seasons Of The Wolf is released on
their own label Earth Mother Music. |
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Wolf are : Wes Waddell on Vocals Barry Waddell on Guitar & Backing Vocals Dennis Ristow on Keyboards & Backing Vocals Wayne Hoefle on Drums Chris Whitford on Bass The tracks are : 1. Lost In Hell 2. Abandoned City 3. S.O.S. 4. Communion 5. Interstellar 6. Witchfinder 7. Voo Doo Maker 8. A Face In The Mist 9. Initiation 10. Vengeance 11. One land One King S.O.T.W. combines influences from 3 decades of Hard Edge Rock Muisc with their own ideas, giving the music a familiar, yet fresh sound. PROGRESSIVE / GOTHIC / NEW AGE METAL for the new millenia. The intensity of the songs and theatrical stage presence have brought positive reviews from local press, and a strong loyal following in their home territory on the West Coast of Florida. With help from Underground Zines and the Internet, news of the band is spreading in regions around the world. The opening track is 'Lost In Hell', starts with the sound of an explosion and then the band comes in. The guitar sound is fast and furious, powerful rhythm to this dramatic opener. There's also another side to this track when the music gets quite atmospheric. Powerful vocals from Wes and a couple of great solo's from Barry. The next track is 'Abandoned City', starts off with some nice guitar and keyboards. Just before the track reaches the one minute mark the tempo speeds up and the guitar sound for me is just superb, unfortunately this doesn't last long enough. Then it's heavy riffs, great vocals and a catchy chorus. There's more superb guitar work further on into the track and another excellent solo. The third track 'S.O.S.', starts off quite atmospherically, similar in a way to sounds you would expect to hear in a sci-fi movie. There's also some oriental sounding keyboards, the intro to this track is quite long, but when the guitar eventually comes in, the sound reminded me a bit of Psychodrama. Once again great vocals and some excellent guitar and keyboards. The next track 'Communion', this is quite a catchy little number with some fine guitar work and a mixture of gothic and sci-fi sounding keyboards. 'Interstellar', this track starts off fairly atmospherically and then in comes the guitar, which still has quite an atmospheric feel to it with some melodic keysboards being added too. This is quite a mellow track and features some excellent guitar work. The vocals on this track are also fairly mellow and overall this has quite a catchy melody. The sixth track 'Witchfinder', features quite a bit of intricate guitar work and atmospheric sounding keys. This is a track that slowly builds up during the verses right up until the chorus. Quite an atmospheric track and features another excellent guitar solo. The next track 'Voo Doo Maker' starting off with lots of atmosphere and then a while later the heavy guitar sound comes in, the rhythm to this track is quite slow and the vocals remind me of Axl Rose in some places. There's also an excellent solo and a change in pace towards the end when it gets a bit more uptempo leading to more excellet guitar and keyboard work. 'A Face In The Mist', a short keyboard instrumental that is both atmospheric and haunting. The ninth track 'Initiation', on listening to the keyboard intro to this track you would think you were listening to a progressive rock band, but this doesn't last long, the vocals come in 'Welcome to your darkest nighmare' and the track from then builds up with some excellent keyboards and guitar to a much heavier sound. Track 10 'Vengeance', this is one of my favourite tracks and starts with some nice keyboards and intricate guitar. This is then followed with a quotation of William Shakespeare, hysterical laughter and then in comes a superb rhythm, the vocal delivery has been done in a smilar way to that of Axl Rose. Ther's also some excellent keyboard and guitar work throughout the track. The final track 'One Land One King', starts off with gothic style keyboards, then in comes the bass, vocals and then builds up with some great guitar. throughout the track there's some fine guitar and keyboards. Well, I am sure all of you who have heard the first album are dying to know, whether this album is as good or better than the first. In my opinion, there's no doubt that it is a better album all round. The musicianship is once again excellent, and the songwriting has surpassed itself. To be honest, there's not one bad track on the album. Influences I would have to say are Iron maiden, Guns N'Roses, Alice Cooper, Psychodrama, The Cult and Deep Purple. And even though every track on this album is excellent I still have a few favourites and they are 'Lost In Hell', 'Abandoned City', Interstellar', Voo Doo Master' and 'Vengeance'. If You like any of the above bands then I suggest you take a listen to Seasons Of The Wolf, I am sure you won't regret it. Highly Recommended!!! Seasons Of The Wolf is released on their own label Earth Mother Music. S.O.T.W. WEBSITE : http://members.aol.com/bloodtree EMAIL : BloodTree@aol.com |
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Nocturnal Revelation Seasons Of The Wolf |
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1. New Age Revolution The Band: Chris Whitford Bass
The lyrics are absolutely straight out of the Judas Priest/Man'O'War book of cheesy lyrics. Any fan of Priest and Man'O'War will know what I'm talking about. Ok that may be a tad harsh, but I don't really give a shit. Personally 'Seasons Of The Wolf' do nothing for me, though there are people out there who devour this shite morning, noon and night. That brings me to the band themselves. Fortunately, they do actually know how to play their instruments and are more than capable of weaving a fine tune together, which is evident in certain tracks on this release. Nocturnal Revelation is a 13 track release which has quite a slow starter in 'New Age Revolution'. Thankfully they change pace for the next few tracks which is a welcome relief for me. 'Quilex' has some of the cheesiest lyrics I've ever heard, and this brings me onto the title track, which, for me is perhaps one of the best on this disc. It's an atmospheric mid paced number which proves to me that 'Seasons..' do have what it takes. 'Skulls' is another of the same format as the title track. Slowly we plod on through the rest of the disc, resisting the temptation to hit the fast forward button on my disc player. That is until I get to the final track 'Transmission'. This is beyond a shadow of a doubt the best track on this disc and shows that 'Seasons..' are more than capable of putting together a fine tune. But unfortunately for them a release based on 3 decent tracks leaves a rather large hole on the rest of the disc. www.metalwolf.com ~Review by Chris Wheeler |