By: Richard Maw
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released:
13/11/2018
Label: Independent
there are no bad tracks here and over
the course of the eight tracks the band have crafted a fine and vicious album.
Valafar are a band to watch and they are destined for greater things
“Wolfenkind”
CD track listing:
1).
Úlfhéðnar
2).
Brotherhood of the Wolf
3).
Path of the Warrior
4).
Bloody Spoils of War
5).
Shunned from the Light
6).
The Ballad of Plainfield
7).
Odin’s Call
8).
Born of the Nine
The Review:
Valafar hail from West Yorkshire and have imbued this Viking/death/metal
with a good deal of the grit the region is famed for. Keighley and surrounding areas would
historically have been part of Northumbria in the dark ages, as would (oddly) a fair bit south of the River Humber as well-
everything from Lincoln upwards was firmly Viking territory. It is not so
strange, then, that these Yorkshire bruisers
would be espousing a Norse doctrine and bringing tracks enthralled to the
Ulf/Varg/Ulva in the form of “Brotherhood
of the Wolf”.
With
other tracks named “Path of The Warrior”,
“Odin's Call”, “Born of the Nine...” you know what to expect thematically from
those titles! Musically, this is absolutely rock solid- good production job,
growled vocals, tales of glory and mayhem; it's all here. I suppose as a
reference point this is kind of like a death metal Grand Magus. There are cracking
riffs to be had here, it's not mindlessly “brutal” as the songs are thought out
and the band has brought some seriously groove filled and sludgy riffs.
In
short, this is not just speed for speed's sake death metal, but neither is it
anything less than very heavy. There is something here for fans of death metal,
trad metal, thrash metal and even doom metal, as well as Vikings of course.
Sound wise, this is perhaps closer to Swe-death than Florida
To
be clear, there are no bad tracks here and over the course of the eight tracks
the band have crafted a fine and vicious album. Valafar are a band to watch and
they are destined for greater things- watch this space and get out to see them
live when you can. Stirring stuff.
“Wolfenkind” is available HERE
Band
info: facebook
