Wolfnacht - Töten für W.O.T.A.N. (2003)

Of the numerous Wolfnacht albums I've experienced, Töten für W.O.T.A.N. is the most unreservedly nationalistic, patriotic to the sweeping Nazism of the German 40s rather than Athalwolf's own Hellenic heritage. It's also perhaps the most diverse and comic of works, meshing together several pure RAC/punk tracks with the black metal content, and some pompous, traditional martial march themes. I'm sure the intention was not to be 'funny' here, but the mix of brute vocals over the rock tracks, and silly sounding hymnals with the rather mediocre metallic content caused me to chuckle aloud on several occasions. Needless to say, the humorous nature is confined to musical reaction alone, because the lyrics here are just as hostile and intolerant as one would expect. No, Töten für W.O.T.A.N. ('Will of the Aryan Nation') is not going to find itself on the shopping lists of the politically correct.

But there's an even more immediate reason the record should be ignored, by anyone: it's just not that good. Where Heidentum had this cold, cruel atmosphere to it redolent of the Norwegian black metal records of the early 90s, this is primarily a rock or punk album molded more to the styles of Skrewdriver or Bound for Glory. The only pure black metal track here is "Blizgott", while the remainder of the hard hitting material divides its time up between folk-punk blitzers like "Wir Sind Die Sturmkolonnen", melodic and anthemic rock like "Siehst Du Im Osten Das Morgenr", and knuckle dragging hardcore brutality like "Unsere Ehre Heist Treue" or "Krieg Uber Alles", the latter of which crosses a few of the genre streams with a more metallic bridge segment. About the only entertaining element of the slower material is the brute vocals being applied to the simple, Ramones-like riffs, which is nigh on hilarious; the guitars themselves are crude, uninteresting and leave very much to be desired, even in the more tearing "Blizgott".

Production-wise, this sophomore does have some balls to it, with more clarity and forcefulness than other acts I've heard in its niche. The music is forgettable, but not incompetent. The clean vocals are corny as all hell, and the lyrics are divided up between English and German, with the English tunes being the more overtly angry and antagonistic toward's Wolfnacht's chosen enemies, which include pretty much everyone outside the banner of white pride. Personally, I give two shits about the political aspirations or statements made on records of any faith or creed, only that Töten für W.O.T.A.N. fails to live up to the inherent musical promise of its predecessor, which was a respectable and raw black metal album with strong if derivative songwriting. Here, Athalwolf seems far more interested in the message than the music, and since that message is very unlikely to appeal to all but a fringe crowd, there's not much for it to stand on. Athalwolf can do better than this, and in fact, he will.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

http://wolfnacht.com/