ALBUM REVIEW: Wizard’s Light – Wolftooth
WOLFTOOTH make metal in its purest and most traditional form, with big riffs, soaring vocals, bombastic and anthemic choruses and a heavy load of melody the order of the day here. The band have stayed true to themselves and their modus operandi since their 2019 self-titled debut album and now on their fourth album Wizard’s Light, (an album that sees them return to their original home on Ripple Music), they show that they are still devoted to the metal cause.
After a suitably intro, entitled Hymn Of Belgarath, WOLFTOOTH explode with a crunching riff on Sightless Archer and from then on in, it’s a relentless metal blast with that crucial send of melody hitting it all the right points and the band, which consists of vocalist/guitarist Chris Sullivan, fellow guitarists Jeff Cole and Jeremy Lovins, bassist Terry McDaniel and drummer Shane Shook, fire on cylinders from start to finish on Wizard’s Light.
Powerful songs abound such as Darkened Path, the galloping Sands Of Redemption, Eternal Hunt and the epic War Brigade encapsulate everything that makes WOLFTOOTH such a great band with the bands riffs and grooves rolling nonstop colliding with some great guitar solos, and the passionate vocals of Chris Sullivan are the icing on the cake here.
That eighteen string attack of Sullivan, Cole and Lovins is a very important aspect of the WOLFTOOTH sound, with both the riffs and the solos exploding out of the speakers, and when you add in the rolling groove that McDaniel and Shook bring, then you have a full on heavy metal assault on the senses, and the bring the power of metal in constant flow.
This is a collection of songs that celebrates the spirit of classic heavy metal but while doing so, adds an even more melodic edge to it and some crucial blues and doom laden moments in there too, and the results are fantastic, pure heavy metal spectacle delivered by five great musicians doing exactly what they love.
WOLFTOOTH play the music they love with fervour and vivacity, and that love for what they do really shines through on the songs in Wizard’s Light. This is an album that can truly be described as uplifting and triumphant, especially as the album reaches its conclusion in frantic fashion with the stirring Bloodline and finally, the monumental All Father bringing proceedings on this vast metal journey to a perfect conclusion.
Fans of classic bands like DIO, IRON MAIDEN, RAINBOW and JUDAS PRIEST through to more recent defenders of the faith like THE SWORD, CASTLE RAT, RED FANG and VALIENT THORR will find lot to love on Wizard’s Light and this album is another string to WOLFTOOTH’s musical bow, executed with love for heavy metal and containing all we have grown to love from the band.
Rating: 8/10
Wizard’s Light is out now via Ripple Music.
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