Winterwolf howls death with 'Cycle of the Werewolf'

Winterwolf - Cycle of the Werewolf (Xtreem Music, 2010)

Fans of churning old school death metal, beware! The moon is full, and Finland's Winterwolf is on the loose. Cycle of the Werewolf is the debut full-length from the Kuopio-based quintet, though the band actually began in 1997 and morphed into Deathchain three years later. Founding member Corpse reassembled Winterwolf with a new lineup in 2006, and he notably acquired death metal demigod Antti Boman of Demilich (credited here as Abomanator) on guitar and backing vocals prior to recording the album.

 If the band's pedigree doesn't make you sit up and take notice, their music surely will. Cycle of the Werewolf is a ripping variation of the Swedish style that Nihilist codified with washes of fuzzy downtuned guitars and gruff  vocals. While the sound is a familiar one, it is notable that Winterwolf's version offers an energetic and aggressive approach with the Finnish death metal standard as a modifier. Nothing here feels like retread, and the vocal interplay between mainman Rotten's ragged snarl and Abomanator's trachea-shredding grunts adds a new flavor to the proceedings.

The songs themselves are, in simple terms, heavy. Bass and guitars move in unision as a rumbling behemoth while the drums thunder away with speedy single and double kick change-ups. The thick and balanced production also furthers the brutality by recalling the soundscape of Entombed's Left Hand Path. Corpse demonstrates his death metal literacy by never allowing the material to become too much of one thing; while Winterwolf proudly displays their influences, Cycle of the Werewolf still succeeds on its own merits. Even their closing cover of Bolt Thrower's "Cenotaph" sounds fresh and ferocious. The biggest highlight of the album tears forth with "Wolf Skin Mask", which gets the blood moving in the way that all killer songs should. Make no mistake, this stuff is for headbanging, screaming along, and driving unsafely should you decide to play it in your car. For now the album is only available on vinyl, though the CD edition is already announced. Order your copy from Encore Records here in Austin and get into some serious death metal lycanthropy!

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