WARWOLF
“Necropolis”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

WarWolf are a heavy metal band from Germany, formed by current and former members of the German metal band Wolfen. ‘Necropolis’ is WarWolf’s debut album and was released in 2022…

…featuring ten songs of Iron Maiden-esque heavy metal. To say WarWolf have been influenced by the metal legends would be a massive understatement. For the band pay homage to one of the greatest heavy metal bands ever – by way of riffs, melodies, and the classic Iron Maiden gallop, with album opener ‘Daywalker’ highly reminiscent of ‘Maiden’s ‘Aces High’ (from their 1984 album ‘Powerslave’). Not afraid to admit their similarity to the British icons, WarWolf are proud of their debut, bringing a forty year old metal sound into the modern age and showing the world what heavy metal sounded like during its formative years…infectious, powerful and very attractive – and displaying the aura of what has affectionately been labelled as traditional “foot on the monitor” heavy metal. But back to WarWolf, and ‘Daywalker’ – a purpose fuelled energetic gallop of fast paced heavy metal. The kinda song that Iron Maiden have begun many of their albums with, immediately grabbing the listeners attention and keeping them hooked for what is come.

And in the case of WarWolf’s debut, what is to come – including ‘Daywalker’ – is ten classic sounding heavy metal songs across an hour of power! ‘Nosferatu’ picking up the metal baton and running fast. Heavier than the opening salvo, ‘Nosferatu’ also displays a more majestic swagger, and a crushing crescendo of head bangingly addictive riffs and melodies. And no – I’m not gonna tell you every Iron Maiden song that has influenced WarWolf. That’s up to you to figure out. But I might tell you the odd one – but not the really obvious ones like ‘Dawn Of Destiny’ and its terrific furious opening gallop! Where pace and power combine to exhibit a thrilling and quite frankly breath taking tirade of heavy metal. The title song ‘Necropolis’ is an incredible ten minutes in length – chiming in at just one minute shorter than its inspiration…the Blaze Bayley era Iron Maiden, and more specifically, ‘Sign Of The Cross’ (from the bands 1995 album ‘The X Factor’). Mid tempo, mid paced and majestic, ‘Necropolis’ (the song) displays all the characteristics of the longer epics by ‘Maiden, along with the bands attention grabbing story telling nature.

With an atmospheric intro even Iron Maiden would be proud of, WarWolf slow burn ‘Clan Of The Undead’ into life, progressing to impose a mighty anthemic foot stomp upon the ears. Blending a regal feel with the sound of a military march, ‘Clan Of The Undead’ is a tall and proud “come follow me” type of song. And following two highly majestic swaggers, WarWolf return the classic galloping style of metal to the fore with ‘When The Hangman Cries’. Featuring a ‘Run To The Hills’ (Iron Maiden’s first single off their 1982 album ‘The Number Of The Beast’) feel, ‘When The Hangman Cries’ will have everyone raising their fists high in the air to salute a great sounding song. Great, mainly because of the classic NWOBHM sound – a sound that remains centre stage, as ‘Cold Blood’ comes to life. Since the album began WarWolf have been full of energy, projecting an electrically charged atmosphere into the heads of every single listener. The band not letting up for a second!

Moving forward with authority and aplomb, ‘Slaves Of The Night’ is a thundering slab of heavy stomping metal, depicting a sound more akin to Judas Priest than Iron Maiden. Maybe actually a meld of the two British legends! But whichever way you lean, I’m sure you’ll agree ‘Slaves Of The Night’ is straight outta the eighties – a time of evolution and design for heavy metal. The final two songs are labelled as bonus tracks – the first of which ‘Witches & Demons’, is strongly influenced by ‘Maiden’s ‘Powerslave’ (from the bands 1984 album of the same name). With its menacing vibe and slightly darker feel, ‘Witches & Demons’ maintains the traditional metal flavour (of the album) – a flavour that’s not lost its taste in over forty years. Bringing the album to a close is the eight minute plus ‘The Priest’ – melding mellow passages with hymn-like pomp. WarWolf showing diversity to everything that has gone before, ‘The Priest’ has the feel and aura of a show stopping finale, with everyone up on their feet applauding its mighty melodic swagger.

Overall, an hour of classic sounding traditional metal, heavily influenced by torchbearers and legends Iron Maiden.

TRACKLIST

Daywalker
Nosferatu
Dawn Of Destiny
Necropolis
Clan Of The Undead
When The Hangman Cries
Cold Blood
Slaves Of The Night
Witches & Demons (bonus)
The Priest (bonus)

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