Band: Wolfhorde
Album: Hounds of Perdition
Release Date: 11th January 2018
Wolfhorde are a band that have been around for a while, but until I saw news of their latest release Hounds of Peridition I had never heard of them before. The release had been circulated in many metal groups I am a part of on Facebook, so I thought I would have a listen myself and see what Wolfhorde are about.
The first track is very different to the rest of the album for me. We start off with Chimera. It’s acoustic in its introduction, with a hint of flute and what sounds to me like harpsichord. Choral vocals come in which are calming, and the flute becomes a little more prominent. The instrumental gets heavier, with the vocals staying the same, and when the vocals rest, strings come in. We then hear harsh vocals, and the instrumental is a great one to headbang to and it has a good rhythm. The same three sections of the track repeat throughout, and the outro is pipe heavy.
Doctor of the Plague shows a completely different side to Wolfhorde, it has a much more traditional heavy metal feel to it, with a Moonsorrow feel. There are flutes again and this time also some clean vocals. The flute melody almost has a circus feel to it. Black Song has a similar feel, but in the main sections there is less prominence of the orchestral instruments, and the clean vocals are then again. There is flute in the interlude, and harsh vocals are back in there again.
Towers of Silence again has a Moonsorrow feel, and I can almost hear some Evil Scarecrow themes in there as well. Strings are the most prominent orchestral sound, and as with Black Song, there are clean and harsh vocals, and there are even some blast beats in there too. A calmer intro, making you feel like you can breathe again, is Forged In Ice. There is spoken word over guitar tapping and drums, and a mix of clean and harsh vocals over each other, competing for dominance. There is an orchestral interlude before it’s back into the heavy and fast instrumental style.
The penultimate track, Kill the Light, begins heavy, with clean vocals and orchestral instruments, the strings come through more on this track. There is a section which is perfect for a fist pump with a crowd, but for me it doesn’t quite last long enough. As we heard in Forged in Ice, there is once again some spoken word, over flute and strings. The final and title track, Hounds of Perdition, has very much a Nightwish feel, and in particular it reminds me of Storytime. When the vocals come in, they are initially harsh, and this time around the clean vocals have a more gravelly tone to them. The flutes become more prominent and there is a flute interlude. There is a quiet calm section where there is acoustic guitar, strings, and male choral vocals, and later harsh vocals.
For me, the first track is very misleading, and I would have liked to hear more of the same kind of instrumental throughout the album. The rest of the album isn’t bad, but I feel like the first track gave me a bit of a false impression, so what I was expecting was very different to what I got. I will definitely be giving Wolfhorde another chance though, and I will be checking out their back catalogue.
Verdict: 7.5/10
Buy Wolfhorde music: https://wolfhorde.bandcamp.com/
Buy Wolfhorde merch: https://shop.spreadshirt.fi/wolfhorde/
Listen to Wolfhorde on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4R8pqQImsTQMq6VtHk0hdA
Follow Wolfhorde on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WolfhordeBandOfficial/
Ostara Metal 