Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Wolfsschrei - Demons of My Inner Self (2008)


For their second full-length, Germans Wolfsschrei conjure up a suitably hostile environment of black violence with some glorious riffing and a cold but fulfilling tone. These are no newcomers to the scene, they've been in many other bands like Odal, Seelengrief, and Erhabenheit.

The title track begins with some bass, then the bombast of grinding black guitars and the snarling pitch of Taaken. What I find very satisfying about this band is the fact that almost all the songs have a very glorious, melodic riff in there. With "Demons of My Inner Self" it comes about half way into the track. "Of Hate and Man" is an excellent song, one of the best here, and it doesn't take long before they unleash this amazing, atmospheric riff (it's the second in the song). The rest of the tracks are likewise thrilling, "Penetration of Your Soul" rocks hard from the starting gate. "Your Painful Fate" is lush, driving and beautiful. "Where Dead Bodies Lay" is grim yet glorious.

Wolfsschrei prove here they have what it takes to join the upper crust of German black metal scene. I enjoyed just about every track on this effort. Groundbreaking they are not, but they deliver a quality not so common for this type of raw and straightforward black metal. The songs are more than capable of conveying cold emotions, the futility of hope in a world of despair, the dark comfort of diabolical hatred. It's all here. If you like true black metal, you will lap this up like an open sore on a Christian whore.

Verdict: Win (8/10)

http://www.wolfsschrei.de/

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