Wolfchant – Call of the Black Winds (2011)

In a time when Pagan/Folk Metal releases are a dime a dozen, it is very hard to go find something truly original and worth listening to. “Call of the Black Winds” is an example of an album that is half-way there, meaning that it is nothing ‘revolutionary’ but it has its moments.

The band has been perfecting its formulaic approach to the genre and with “Call of the Black Winds” they show it. Every aspect of this release has been done by the band in the past, but this time around they get to do it a little bit better. For instance, the clean vocals are considerably better than last time and they actually fit the songs better in this release.

After the traditional prelude song, the album kicks off with “Stormwolves”. This track sounds like something that Alestorm would have thought of (oh wait.. the do have a song “Wolves of the Sea”). Anyways, the music is very familiar to anything you’ve heard before and the epic keyboards make it have the ‘onwards to battle feeling’. The singing is more consistent in this album and you can actually enjoy the different styles of vocals.

One of our favorite tracks has to be “Eremit”. In this song the keyboard atmosphere is brilliant and hooked us since the beginning. The ‘operatic’ vocals of “Heathen Rise” make it another standout song. “The Last Farewell” has to be our favorite track since the song starts with a very nice acoustic section and quickly build-ups. The rest of the songs are not bad, but somewhat devoid of imagination and sound like your run of the mil Pagan/Folk Metal band.

In general, we have to say that the band does a solid job in creating standard Pagan/Folk Metal songs. All instruments are very well crafted and the riffing is solid enough to separate them from the pack. However, the lack of creativity is evident and all songs sound too much alike and formulaic. There are a few good songs in this album and people that are fans of the band and the genres will surely enjoy them. Are they worth buying the whole album? Yes they are, more specifically for fans of the genre and the band.

Release: February 25th, 2011

Country: Germany