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Review: Wulfgar - With Gods and Legends Unite
Wulfgar
www.wulfgar.se
With Gods and Legends Unite

Label: Kampas Records
Year released: 2007
Duration: 55:36
Tracks: 12
Genre: Viking Metal

Rating: 4.25/5

Review online: December 18, 2008
Reviewed by: Michel Renaud
Readers Rating
for:
With Gods and Legends Unite

Rated 2.75/5 (55%) (4 Votes)
Review

This is one of those albums that I couldn't bring myself to review, simply because I'm not sure what else to say but "this is great!".  The end.  Alright, alright, let's expand on this a little.  I recall a while back seeing these guys likened to Amon Amarth, but since I haven't listened to that band in ages, I won't go there - but the basic elements are there:  "Melodic" Death Metal with viking themes.  Interesting, the vocals are one of the elements that keep me coming back to this album.  The style is the kind of growls you expect for the genre, but that vocalist has a little something in his voice that makes it sound heavy, powerful, harsh, sharp and somewhat captivating.  I'm not much of a fan of growls in the first place and merely tolerate them when the genre calls for it, but here this guy has it.  As a bonus, most of the lyrics are decipherable enough.

The music is mostly mid-paced and doesn't deter much from that, and I found that 55 minutes of it is a little too much for that reason - at some point it does begin to feel a little too long, and shaving a few minutes off the album could have helped shake off that feeling.  The good news is that all the songs are at least good, so despite the aforementioned feeling there's no candidate for the Skip button.  As one might expect, Wulfgar's music is tinged with an epic feel, although that's not always the case - they don't abuse the "epicness", unlike some bands.  Where the music shines the most is in the powerful guitar melodies, very poignant, invigorating, and pretty much adrenaline-pumping enough to start an all-out war.  If you don't spontaneously raise your first in the air during the 20-second powerful and speedy passage at 0:48 on "This Pagan Blood", there's something seriously wrong with you.  While most of the album is pretty much upbeat and very positive-sounding (not wimpy, just positive ;)), there's a hint of a melancholic atmosphere that can be felt throughout the album - it never goes away but doesn't get in the way, and the result could be described as a good mix between the mightiness of a war machine and the horror of war itself?  At this point I think the listeners will have the final say, or at least their own interpretation/feelings on that one.  Bottom line, this is one damn good slab of Death/Viking Metal.

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