WarWolf is a heavy metal band from Germany, releasing two albums to date – ‘Necropolis’ (2022), and ‘The Apocalyptic Waltz’ (2023).
Now we’ve had the ‘Toxic Waltz’, (a song by thrashers Exodus from the band 1989 album ‘Fabulous Disaster’), the ‘Tennessee Waltz’, (a popular country music song written in 1946 by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King), and ‘The Anniversary Waltz’, (courtesy of rockers Status Quo via two medley singles released in 1990) – now prepare yourselves for ‘The Apocalyptic Waltz’ – the second album from German heavy metallers WarWolf.
Spanning a mammoth sixty-five minutes featuring an incredible twelve songs, ‘The Apocalyptic Waltz’ is an infectious, and highly head bang-able traditional heavy metal album. The band’s love for the NWOBHM isn’t a secret, with the legendary band Iron Maiden a major influence. An influence that can clearly be heard across the album – an album that was produced by fellow German metallers Grave Digger’s iconic frontman Chris Boltendahl (Hellryder, Chris Boltendahl’s Steelhammer).
Album opener and (presumably) title song ‘Apocalyptic Waltz’, is also the longest song on offer clocking in at nearly nine minutes in length – and is very much in the vein of an epic Iron Maiden album ender, but as a starter! WarWolf are in majestic mode here, setting an atmospherically mellow feel, slowly building the tension for ‘Apocalyptic Waltz’ to come crashing in with a scorching “metal scream” – the pace phenomenal as the band stretch their legs and power forth! The sound of eighties heavy metal is one of the most glorious sounds ever, WarWolf perfectly capturing the era’s essence – every metal traditionalist smiling from ear to ear as the album roars on with ‘Silver Bullets’, the band firmly planting their feet on the monitor to deliver the iconic NWOBHM gallop! The opening double salvo has been explosive and highly infectious, WarWolf making it a triple salvo with the faster-paced ‘Spawn Of Hell’. And a melodious intent bigger than the previous two songs clubbed together! The melodic mid-tempo thunder of ‘Spawn Of Hell’ is reminiscent of British stalwarts Saxon, WarWolf recreating the sound of British heavy metal – even though they’re a German band!
And talking of “recreating the sound of British heavy metal”, ‘Die In Dignity’ emulates the sound of metal masters Iron Maiden down to a tee – the band’s landmark 1984 album ‘Powerslave’ the inspiration by elements of two songs – ‘Aces High’ and ‘The Duellists’ – simply oozing out of ‘Die In Dignity’. And if you’re gonna take inspiration from any band, why not the Masters? And without dropping the electrifying intensity, ‘The Apocalyptic Waltz’ moves on at pace with the blistering ‘Flying Dutchman’, err, um, flying past at an incredible rate of knots. The album is at its most head bang-able here, with every mosh pit around the world a frenzied blur of heads rocking back and forth! If like me, you grew up during the eighties metal evolution, falling in love with bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Samson, and Angel Witch, you’re gonna fall head over heels for this album, WarWolf bringing the eighties buzz and excitement to the present day – the band keeping the pedal firmly pressed to the metal as ‘Jealous Clown’ takes off and roars down the autobahn! The fastest song heard so far, ‘Jealous Clown’ is melodic heavy metal at its best, highly infectious, immensely attractive and insanely sing a long-able.
And for the first time since the album began, the band slam on the brakes for ‘Rivers Of Blood’, a tense guitar line following the sound effect of pouring rain – the band entering ballad territory! Only for ‘Rivers Of Blood’ to hit hard after a minute or so to take on the persona of a hymn-like anthemic swagger – the band melding mellowness with a crushing crescendo to keep ‘Rivers Of Blood’ away from the abyss of balladry! And with more hustle and bustle than any other song heard so far, ‘Kingdom Of Fools’ restores the album’s incredible intensity, pounding the ground hard, and banging the heads of every single metalhead in the world. Back in the mid-eighties, German metallers Running Wild were nicknamed “Germany’s answer to Iron Maiden” – in the shape of WarWolf, methinks Germany now has another answer! ‘Legacy Of Salem’ features a crescendo-building intro followed by an electrifying change of pace and tempo, the band sprinting forth with all their might to deliver a head bang-able, heavy-hitting, melodious metal march.
The band’s debut album was sixty-two minutes in length, WarWolf exceeding that mark the second time around with sixty-five minutes – that’s an incredible two hours plus of heavy metal across just two albums! This album powering on with the fast-paced ‘Bloodlines’ – and a glorious gallop you don’t get anywhere else in music! The chorus break is the most melodious and sing a long-able the album has to offer, a sparkling in-concert moment just waiting to happen! Please play this one live WarWolf? Please! You can resist all you want to stop falling for ‘The Apocalyptic Waltz’, but resistance is futile, the album marches on with another hustler and bustler, ‘Resistance’ a five-minute instrumental very much in the vein of Iron Maiden’s (instrumental) ‘Losfer Words (Big Orra)’ – WarWolf once again taking inspiration from the sound of ‘Maiden’s ‘Powerslave’ album! And after an hour – an hour that’s just flown by – the album enters its final furlong with ‘Van Helsing’s Dream’. And a departure from everything else on offer – ‘Van Helsing’s Dream’ featuring a doom-laden anthemic foot stomp. Think how the offspring from a Black Sabbath, Saxon one-night stand would sound – and then add extra oomph!
Overall, a thunderous gallop of traditional heavy metal, immensely infectious with a hundred percent head bang ability.
TRACKLIST
Apocalyptic Waltz
Silver Bullets
Spawn Of Hell
Die In Dignity
Flying Dutchman
Jealous Clown
Rivers Of Blood
Kingdom Of Fools
Legacy Of Salem
Bloodlines
Resistance
Van Helsing’s Dream
WarWolf : Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: Metalapolis Records
Category: Album
Country: Germany
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
