ALBUM REVIEW: Draconian Darkness – Wolfheart

There’s a glut of melodic death bands about. Some have more of a symphonic edge, others a thematic schtick and some lean heavily on the death influence. While there’s a lot that are excellent and encompass the melodic death genre to exemplary level and elevate the genre, there’s also more than a couple that are forgettable (to put it politely). Fortunately, since starting out as a solo project in 2012 Finnish quartet WOLFHEART have found themselves in the exemplary side of things: excellent production, powerful songwriting and no half measure gimmicks required to popularise their music. For a band now 12 years into their career, it would be tough to classify them as fast rising; they’ve got plenty of experience under their belts and they’ve got bucket loads of talent that they bring to the fore on Draconian Darkness.

With a seemingly boundless energy, Ancient Cold delivers a powerful opener. An extremely irresistible groove is laced in the rhythms and the chorus sections ascend to almost power metal levels of crowd-pleasing, fist-pumping triumph. Continuing the mood set, Evenfall maintains the exhalated pace and enthralling melodic death stylings. However, while it is certainly no slouch when it comes to conveying what WOLFHEART are capable of, it feels a little copy and paste from the preceding track. All of the elements are still contained and executed to a tee, but there’s nothing to expand or deviate, and it feels a little too similar.

Burning Sky and Death Leads The Way however, offer up something different. The former features a prominent mid-tempo pulse and with a wider range of dynamic and textural shifts it helps to offer up more of what the band are capable of. Death Leads The Way is a straight forward head banger delivered to an exceptional standard. The melody is still very much present, but the staccato riffs and powerful, driving rhythms take charge.

There are more moments in the latter half of the album that echo the sense of playing it safe encapsulated by Evenfall. Trial By Fire nails all of the melodeath stylistic elements and techniques perfectly and is a high example of the genre. The musicianship is excellent and the songwriting is great, coupled with the exceptional production values found across the album, but it seems to fall short and leaves the feeling that WOLFHEART are capable of more. They can clearly nail all the aspects of their chosen genre but it would be cool to hear if they could push the boundaries more. Closing track The Gale goes a long way to redeeming the album and there many highpoints that can and should be lauded throughout the record.

Ultimately, Draconian Darkness is a powerful and enticing work. Stylistic elements are delivered with a confident professionalism which leads to many stand-out moments and an overall memorable album. WOLFHEART have stuck to a winning approach that has progressed to a significant level and allows the band to flourish and produce a distinctive style. That being said, there are some moments that give off a conventional approach. Some aspects fall too much into a stereotypical trope of the genre and clip the wings of an album that could otherwise soar.

Rating: 7/10

Draconian Darkness is set for release on September 6th via Reigning Phoenix Music.

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