{"id":23128,"date":"2014-09-12T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2014-09-12T00:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=23128"},"modified":"2015-01-14T20:47:19","modified_gmt":"2015-01-14T20:47:19","slug":"album-review-wolfen-evilution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-wolfen-evilution\/","title":{"rendered":"WOLFEN – Evilution (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

WOLFEN
Evilution<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nPure Legend (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Evilution<\/em> is the fifth full-length release from German power thrashers Wolfen. The quintet consists of: Andreas von Lipinski (vocals), Bj\u00f6rn Gr\u00fcne (guitar), Frank J. Noras (guitar), Nico Filter (bass) and Holger Bloempott (drums).<\/p>\n

Wolfen have been extremely consistent since debut Don\u2019t Trust The White<\/em>, which emerged in 2000. Since then, they\u2019ve effortlessly combined melodic thrash metal with strong power metal grooves, booming drums and clinical guitar work all built around the potent vocal approach of Andreas von Lipinski. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s very much contemporary by design, although there are occasional flirts with old school metal and one can only be impressed by the lead work which weaves its way through the mire of majestic bass, percussion and rhythm guitar. The end result is that Evilution<\/em> is more than just a steady master class in fusing power and subtlety to the point that the tracks embed themselves into the ears and stay there for a long time afterwards. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve said it many times before that a lot of this sort of modern metal leaves me a tad cold, and I\u2019ll admit that there are moments within this opus which I just cannot get on with. Nevertheless, the weight of this album is so substantial at times that I\u2019m often left overlooking the minor gripes in favour of the majestic grooves which the band constructs. <\/p>\n

\u201850 Dead Men Walking\u2019 has a distinctive mid to late 90s metal feel to it; oddly, at times von Lipinski reminds me of Sacred Reich\u2019s Phil Rind as he barks his way through the track, his chops working well in tandem with that pacey belligerence before that ascending chorus which takes the song to new levels. \u2018Digital Messiah\u2019 is equally hammering with that opening chug; von Lipinski lowers the tone here to a more menacing snarl but the sound literally booms out of the speakers as the drums slam away in reckless fashion, holding the whole pounding melody together. <\/p>\n

Another top-notch tune is the rattling \u2018Eternity\u2019; again, it\u2019s a case of epic sounding power thrash which at times would have fitted well into the late 80s scene, but what sets it apart from mere nostalgia are the modern dynamics and those big, boastful choruses. \u2018Eternity\u2019 is a prime example of how that chorus comes striding out confidently from the initial mesh of crushing metal. \u2018The Flood\u2019 follows suit but adds an even bigger dose of clunking metal, and this is one of the tracks that took me longer to get into. I\u2019m still on the fence with it, preferring the more direct juggernaut approach to the subtle nuances, but it\u2019s still heavy as hell metal. <\/p>\n

\u2018Chosen One\u2019 is another of those muscular melodies which remains instant and almost flawless. For sheer pounding heaviness then just take a good listen to \u2018Pure Culture\u2019, which is undoubtedly the thrashiest track on the opus. The only track that really grates on me is \u2018The Irish Brigade\u2019, but it\u2019s one duff minor \u2013 lyrically, vocally and musically \u2013 I can forgive the guys for.<\/p>\n

Wolfen have constructed an almighty record here, one which serves up a huge wallop to the senses, because while never flashy, Evilution<\/em> is one solid ball of rock pretty much from start to finish.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WOLFENEvilution Pure Legend (2014)Rating: 8\/10 Evilution is the fifth full-length release from German power thrashers Wolfen. The quintet consists of: Andreas von Lipinski (vocals), Bj\u00f6rn Gr\u00fcne (guitar), Frank J. Noras (guitar), Nico Filter (bass) and Holger Bloempott (drums). Wolfen have been extremely consistent since debut Don\u2019t Trust The White, which emerged in 2000. Since then, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1594],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-wolfen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23128"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23131,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23128\/revisions\/23131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}