Winterwolf - Cycle of the Werewolf

WINTERWOLF - Cycle of the Werewolf (XTREEM Music - CD 2009)

At the time when "Cycle of the Werewolf" was unleashed (2009) I considered this CD as one of the fuckin best new death metal albums. Ten years later I still listen to it with big smile on my face and big enthusiasm, because this is exactly kind of death metal, which perfectly fits my musical taste. Winterwolf is a band, which clearly suffers for the Swedish death metal disease, as their "Cycle of the Werewolf" is soaked with influences from that style of death metal. From the characteristic production, including fat, Sunlight-like guitar tone through the vocal delivery and finally with the music, which combines the groove, aggression and a bit of the Swedish melody. It all screams "Clandestine" era Entombed fuckin loud!!! Luckily Winterwolf avoided being a useless copycat, as their music has enough individuality to stand on its own cemetery. And one of the most recognizable things are the fantastic dual of vocals - classic Swedish growl and deep, beastly grunt which sounds like from the depths below. And which has been performed by the one and only Antti Boman (a'ka Abominator), from the legendary Finnish band Demilich.  

Anyway, the names of well-known musicians do not have to catch your attention, but the fantastic music will. And "Cycle of the Werewolf" is killer. Awesome songwriting in every song, crushing riffs, a good diversity when speaking of the tempos and riffs variation... And I swear that Antii still has the most creepy and beastly voice! Imagine a giant frog Ythogtha from Lovecraft tales! He's their voice haha! For me everything here sounds great. Some will say that I'm exaggerating things a bit, but I don't care. This is exactly how I love my death metal to sound and Winterwolf ticks all the right boxes for "my perfect death metal". I don’t even care if this or that riff sounds familiar. Nine tracks plus the cover of "Cenotaph", which is a nice icing on the cake... I'm beaten. To death. 

Standout tracks: "Phantoms of Madness", "Lycanthropic Aeons" 

Verdict: 80/100