Wolfheart – Draconian Darkness

Written by on 05-09-2024 at 20:41.

The man who has fought many wars and always stood up again is back with one of his bands. Mr. Saukkonen chooses to release Draconian Darkness with his band Wolfheart. Album number six again and this in the same line-up as on the previous very solid album, King Of The North. This Finnish pack of wolves, supplemented with one from the Greek peninsula, makes us melodic death metal fans happy at regular intervals with a release full of deep, dark, cold and chilly songs. When we listen to these songs, it seems we are catapulted to those icy plains and rough heights that the Finnish country is full of.

Brutal rolling bass themes, blast parts, dragging and dragging melodic themes are expertly strung together by the band’s brain. Fortunately, these Finns do not forget that clean vocals also belong to these compositions.

Something that we of course immediately have to deal with on the steaming, pounding and swirling, boiling Ancient Cold. Flashy soloing is integrated particularly well in this first epic-feeling song. The slightly too thin bass lines seem to have too little power to carry a song like Evenfall in its opening bars, fortunately the rolling toms and a masterful acoustic guitar and string part are quickly there to solve this problem. It’s wonderful how those biting guitar lines then duel with each other to complete the tune. Wonderfully cold, ice cold, that’s how Burning Sky opens. It’s amazing how Mr. Saukkonen rips open the sky in his own person… Also listen to the fast feet of Mr. Kaupinnen! Production-wise it’s pretty good, some cracks and squeaks here and there, not too polished, that’s how it should be! Heroic keyboard- and synthpassages take this song to even higher levels, still a great song if you ask me.

Scion Of The Flame is a perfect mix between melancholy and aggression. You hear the interaction, the conversation between the acoustic part that walks together with the clean lines before the brutality of this Wolfheart grinds everything down. You are accompanied to your grave with a very sensitive piano part, but nothing is as it seems in Wolfheart-land. Just bam! The blast party behind it, Goddamn! I even hear some Finnish blowing past, strong!

You can ask yourself whether Wolfheart has added something new, something refreshing to its foundations on Draconian Darkness. After listening to this album I’m not so sure. Above all, Wolfheart has stayed very close to its roots and that is a credit to this band. Perhaps there is just a little more room for the acoustic guitar and some extra symphonic arrangements on this very strong album. All these things make this album even more epic than its predecessors.

Score:

85/100

Label:

Reigning Phoenix Music, 2024

Tracklisting:

  1. Ancient Cold
  2. Evenfall
  3. Burning Sky
  4. Death Leads The Way
  5. Scion Of The Flame
  6. Grave
  7. Throne Of Bones
  8. Trial By Fire
  9. The Gale

Line-up:

  • Tuomas Saukkonen – Vocals, guitar
  • Lauri Silvonen – Bass guitar, vocals
  • Joonas Kaupinnen – Drums
  • Vagelis Karzis – Guitar, vocals

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