Wolvhammer are a Minneapolis-based black/death metal band favoring raw sonic violence over loyalty to specific genres. Their music has the headlong rushing power of the best black metal, but it's not as treble-fixated; producer
Sanford Parker has made sure they've got plenty of low end and, more importantly, a live, organic feel. The songs are thrashy and powerful, with a similar feel to early, primitive work by
Hellhammer and
Celtic Frost. The vocals are harsh, and fed through some distortion in the manner of noise rock bands of the '90s, but they're still clearly the sound of a human throat, not the in/post-human screeching or gurgling some "extreme" metal frontmen go for. There are also some rhythmic surprises here and there, most notably on "Suicide Brigade." This isn't a particularly pathbreaking or innovative record, but it's made with a lot of passion and has a compelling power that makes it a worthy investment of a metal fan's time. ~ Phil Freeman