Classic rock is all well and good, its nostalgia driven stuff. The reason why it’s still so well received in the modern age is not because of the quality of the music, not because the guitar work is particularly brilliant, but because it takes you back to days when you enjoyed it more, when it was fresh in your mind and when it was incredible. Therefore I sit back and wonder why bands try and recreate that sort of sound. They’re not able to pull on the heart strings quite as much as the likes of listening to classic Judas Priest or Pink Floyd. Wolf, for all their instrumental talents, just sounds dated.
‘Devil Seed’ is the seventh studio album from Swedish metal band, and by all means it’s never adventurous. There’s no hint that Wolf are trying to create something different here, just the same old sound, which feels like its jumped straight out of the 80s. ‘Overture in C Shark’ came with so much promise attached to it. The track is fast, its technical and overall it’s exactly what you want to hear from a power metal band. The guitars are melodic, the drum beat compliments it incredibly, and overall it just builds you up for an ultimate let down throughout the album. The main problem, is the vocals, there is not a single redeeming factor about them in the modern music world. The lyrics feel lazy and the execution is just completely grating that it ruins the entire track. It’s really a shame when the instruments are actually really good. ‘Shark Attack’ for example feels like a track that would work a lot better purely as an instrumental. The guitars follow the tone of the vocals to a key and could quite easily take the place of the vocals completely.
It’s just quite a shame that such outdated vocals tar an otherwise impressive album, to the point where I would actually quite like to hear the entire thing without them there. The guitar tones are both subtle and technical, the drum beat guides the entire track, and the bass line is enough to add that small hint of rumble throughout. The Spanish guitar within ‘Skeleton Woman’ is delightful and the solos in the likes of ‘Frozen’ are incredibly well executed. Just, please, get rid of the 80’s style streaking vocals.
