ALBUM REVIEW: World Of Chaos – Ulvedharr

The Italian bruisers ULVEDHARR have been carving out their own little space in the death metal world since their inception in 2011. The band have gone from strength to strength with a back catalogue that is rock solid at this point, with each release growing in maturity and ever expanding in creativity. Now in 2019 the boys are back with their fourth full length release World Of Chaos and look set to take that next step forward in the development of their sound.

World Of Chaos gets straight down to business with the track What Have We Done. A song that seethes in its intensity and lays out exactly what the band’s mission statement is for World Of Chaos and that is to decimate all within their path. The riffs from Giuseppe “Jack” Ciurlia and Ark Nattlig Ulv sound like they could happily sit on a classic death metal album such as MORBID ANGEL’s Alters Of Madness, or DEATH’s Scream Bloody Gore. The drum work from Mike Bald is typically impressive for the genre with blast beats and skilled fills aplenty, all of which add to the high velocity pace that has always served ULVEDHARR so well throughout their career thus far. The middle section of the song contains a guitar solo from Ciurlia that sounds like it could have come from the fretboard of the late, great Jeff Hanneman himself as he wrenches on the tremolo bar and forces the guitar to scream almost as if it is in pain. A superb opening track.

The following song Death Stare picks up the proverbial baton and runs with it. The opening bass line has an almost funk feel to it which almost feels like a distraction technique before the band uppercut the listener with another onslaught of death metal ferocity. Ark delivers his vocals in the same way he always has which is the perfect blend of rasping, death metal growls and harsh Robb Flynn-esque shouting that is both brutal and far more intelligible than most death metal acts. The aggressive riffs and almost robotic drumming are likely to stir up a frenzy of circle pits and crowd surfing when the band take this to the stage. A guest appearance from Lars Goran Petrov from the mighty ENTOMBED A.D. is a real highlight of World Of Chaos and shows the pull that the band have already within the genre.

Fallout is one of the highlights of the album. More impressive drum work from Bald provides the perfect base for the intricate rhythmic patterns of the song. The bass guitar wanders along underneath the rest of the instruments and has been mixed to perfection, sounding superb in the mix and not being drowned out. When the pace of the song picks up the band get back to what they do beat and that is high velocity death metal. The tremolo riffing and vocals make this track sound as if it has come straight from the SEPULTURA classic Arise. The latter stages of the song hold one of the finest instrumental sections on the entirety of World Of Chaos. An impressive harmonised lead run gives way to a thrash inspired, fret-burning guitar solo that would make Kerry King jealous and proves that these boys have plenty of strings to their bow that they can utilise at any moment.

Overall World Of Chaos is a decent death metal release and will sit comfortably in ULVEDHARR’s discography. Fans of the genre will find plenty to sink their teeth in to on this album as it ticks all of the boxes for what you would want a modern death metal record to be. However, if you are not a particular fan of the genre then it is not going to be an album that will steer you on it and transcend taste such as CARCASS’ classic Heartwork or BOLT THROWER’s infamous Those Once Loyal. However, if ULVEDHARR continue to grow as they have with this album then that particular staple of an album could be just around the corner.

Rating: 8/10

World Of Chaos is out now via Scarlet Records.

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