EP REVIEW: A Shadow Of What Once Was – Wolvencrown

The UK black metal scene is booming at the moment. From the atmospheric brutality of RUADH and FUATH to the genre heavyweights WINTERFYLLETH and everyone in-between, black metal is enjoying a period of extreme growth on UK shores. One such outfit, hailing from the forests of Nottingham, have already made waves despite their short career. WOLVENCROWN‘s debut, self-titled EP immediately caught attention, while debut album Of Bark and Ash saw the band immediately cement their place in UK black metal’s pantheon. Only 14 months on from the release of their debut album, WOLVENCROWN return with a brand new EP – but is A Shadow Of What Once Was a sign of brilliance to come, or a break in the quintet’s short run of quality? 

As ever, the answer lies somewhere in between. A Shadow of What Once Was sees WOLVENCROWN take their atmospheric black metal roots, marrying them with a newfound DSBM sound. The end result shows a lot of promise for what’s to come, but does mis the mark ever so slightly. Opening track A Shadow of What Once Was Pt 1, the first of the two-parter title track, hits hard right of the back; tremolo riffs and haunting keys provide a backdrop to the tortured vocals that fall well within the DSBM framework. However, the atmospheric and more aggressive DSBM portions of the opener fail to blend seamlessly, often clashing against one and other rather than marrying into one focussed sound.

WOLVENCROWN hit their stride for A Shadow of What Once Was Pt 2, however. Here, the more atmospheric elements of their musical arsenal are far more prominent, the dark brutality serving to add to the atmosphere rather than competing for the spotlight. The beautiful keyboard work that closes the track transitions seamlessly into closing song, Coming To An End – however at over seven minutes long and serving more as an outro than a full song in its own right, Coming To An End overstays its welcome, and feels like a bit of a missed opportunity to further explore the new ideas and directions the rest of the EP has shown.

Throughout A Shadow Of What Once Was, WOLVENCROWN display experimentation and evolution in spades; a few choice tracks from the Of Bark and Ash cutting room floor, this ain’t. The blending of atmospheric black metal and DSBM is an interesting one – and the band get points for ambition, here – but at places this can feel like a band trying to play two different styles, rather than melding them into one, cohesive sound. With a new full-length album already on the way, tentatively set for release early 2022, it will be interesting to see how WOLVENCROWN set forward, and whether they continue with this new hybrid of blackened sub-genres.

Rating: 6/10

A Shadow of What Once Was is set for release February 26th via Clobber Records. 

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