Grand
Magus - Wolf's Return - Rise Above 2005
11 Songs
Running Time: 38:19
2004's Monument was
the sound of a band in flux; very much more in tune with
where they wanted to go, and the sound they wanted to get.
Still, you could tell that (a damn fine album though it was)
Sweden's Grand Magus wasn't sure where they wanted
to take this newfound sense of direction.
'Kingslayer' blasts out of the speakers
at a pace that approximates speed metal when compared to
the slow, Down-like crawl found on most of Monument.
Someone's been listening to more Volume 4 and less Black
Sabbath, in my opinion, and to good result. The production
on Wolf's Return is also a fair step above that
of the previous two albums combined, leaving behind the
bass-heavy realm and focusing more on the sound of the
band in total, which gives the album a much more "live" feeling;
almost as if the band had set up in the rehearsal room
down the hall, gotten new equipment, and ripped the doors
off their rusted hinges. Oh, worry not, my fellow depressed
ones, the doom is still in abundance here. 'Nine' and 'Blodorn'
both slide down the ear canals and into your weed-addled
brains like so much hot tar, the band never content to
stray too far from the groove. Grand Magus have
never been a band for showmanship, and their blue-collar
songwriting ethic is such that when they do pull a song
over the five-minute-mark, they're doing it because the
song demands it. 'Blodorn' bleeds seamlessly into the title
track, which starts off at full power metal gallop, falls
into an almost 'Brotherhood Of Sleep' lethargic doom, then
picks itself back up by the scruff of the neck and finishes
the song back where it started. This is a heavier, more
aggressive Grand Magus, to be sure, and when the
hammering riff of 'Blood Oath' slams into you, it would
be easy to imagine this as a death metal song, were one
to replace the Cornell/McCafferty howl of JB with a more
guttural delivery. The pagan/folk side of the band returns
for 'Jarnbord', an ancient and truly tribal-sounding number,
complete with what sounds like war drums and gulls flying
over the shoreline. If 'Blood Oath' was aggressive, then
'Repay In Kind' is positively rabid, and when the chorus
of "I've been released/I've been unleashed" wrecking balls
its way in, it's best to just tuck yourself into the fetal
position and wait on the beating to end. The bass-driven
'Hamnd' is followed by 'Ashes', which is a mid-paced...I'm
not sure what to call it, but it just doesn't "fit" with
the rest of the material herein. Likely as not, it'll turn
out to be my favourite song, but in the meantime, when
compared to the rest of the album, it kind of falters.
'Light Hater' returns to form quickly enough, though, and
flows into the album-ending instrumental coda of 'Wolf's
Return Part II'.
Grand Magus have shown more
than considerable growth since their beginnings as a primarily
by-the-book stoner/doom outfit, and with such a solid album
in Wolf's Return, they're primed to take the world
of doom by the horns and give it a much-needed shake. I
don't know who lit the fire under Grand Magus' ass
this time, but here's to long-burning flames.
www.grandmagus.com |
