WOLF BLOOD

The bell of the ride counts out a measure and soon enough the guitar starts in on “Witch,” the opening track from Wolf Blood‘s self-titled debut. Right away, something just seems bent. It’s like the sound is contorted somehow. It’s an otherworldly sensation and it continues throughout the Duluth, Minnesota, four-piece’s six-track offering, which follows through with a loosely cultish approach but is more geared toward general darkness and tonal space than trying to win you over to Team Lucifer. Driven by the riffs of guitarists Mike Messina and Mindy Johnson (the latter also vocals), “Witch” is the slowest of Wolf Blood‘s tracks until its complementary 12-minute closer “Procession of the Witch,” and it also provides one of the album’s signature hooks, so while it may not represent the High on Fire thrashy sensibility of “Exile,” Messina, Johnson, bassist Brian Wells and drummer/vocalist Jake Paulsrude are definitely putting their best foot forward, and they’re swinging it hard right at their audience.

Grooves and big riffs abound, but that’s nothing new to the converted, and where Wolf Blood really distinguish themselves is in the oddity of their aggression. Blending clean vocals, spoken parts and screams, they play off both metallic and heavy rock styles and craft something fluid and malevolent from them. There’s a sense of theatricality in side A finale “Dancing on Your Grave,” where much of the album’s second half seems to be more about pummel, but there’s an emerging personality at work across the board, and Wolf Blood emerge after “Procession of the Witch” unscathed by their own strangeness, having tread hard on a couple fine lines between subgenres. Ultimately, Wolf Blood is as satisfying for its brashness as it is for its density of groove. - The Obelisk

“Witch,” the opening track from Wolf Blood‘s self-titled debut. Right away, something just seems bent. It’s like the sound is contorted somehow. It’s an otherworldly sensation and it continues throughout the Duluth, Minnesota, four-piece’s six-track offering, which follows through with a loosely cultish approach but is more geared toward general darkness and tonal space than trying to win you over to Team Lucifer. Driven by the riffs of guitarists Mike Messina and Mindy Johnson (the latter also vocals), “Witch” is the slowest of Wolf Blood‘s tracks until its complementary 12-minute closer “Procession of the Witch,” and it also provides one of the album’s signature hooks, so while it may not represent the High on Fire thrashy sensibility of “Exile,” Messina, Johnson, bassist Brian Wells and drummer/vocalist Jake Paulsrude are definitely putting their best foot forward, and they’re swinging it hard right at their audience.

Grooves and big riffs abound, but that’s nothing new to the converted, and where Wolf Blood really distinguish themselves is in the oddity of their aggression. Blending clean vocals, spoken parts and screams, they play off both metallic and heavy rock styles and craft something fluid and malevolent from them. There’s a sense of theatricality in side A finale “Dancing on Your Grave,” where much of the album’s second half seems to be more about pummel, but there’s an emerging personality at work across the board, and Wolf Blood emerge after “Procession of the Witch” unscathed by their own strangeness, having tread hard on a couple fine lines between subgenres. Ultimately, Wolf Blood is as satisfying for its brashness as it is for its density of groove.

The band released it earlier this year on two separate, sold-out tape pressings and the whole record is available to stream on the band’s Bandcamp in that original form, but Burning World Records and Outer Battery Records will have a vinyl out in October remixed and remastered by James Plotkin, and you can hear the new version of “Witch” on the player below. - The Obelisk

Wolf Blood is an onslaught of heavy, piss-in-your-face doom metal from Duluth, MN. Non-stop iniquitous riffs that will make you want to simultaneously get lost in a dark cave, play World of Warcraft and burn yourself with a candle. They are truly one of the best (and one of my favorite) contemporary doom bands alongside Bongripper and Thou. They are also proof that music can come out of Duluth that isn’t another clone of Trampled By Turtles. I am extremely happy that they are finally receiving the wide recognition they deserve outside of Duluth. Next month their debut tape is being released as an LP by European label Burning World Records, who have put out records for amazing bands such as Altar of Plagues, The Angelic Process and Boris. They are also doing a midwest tour starting late next month (dates listed below). Fans of Electric Wizard, Bongzilla and Weedeater will love Wolf Blood - Loud North

“Wolf Blood is indeed that brutal--’brutal’ as in smack-your-face loud rock-n-roll, amps on fire, packed house, broken glass, cops-breaking-up-the-party brutal.” --Homegrown Music Festival Field Guide, 2014 - www.duluthhomegrown.org

Just when I thought I'd heard all the bands with "wolf" in their names, along comes Wolf Blood out of Duluth, Minnesota. I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical and almost passed, but it's a good thing that I didn't - Wolf Blood is for real.

This self-titled cassette begins with "Witch," and you can tell what's in store for you pretty quickly. Wolf Blood play stoner metal with a healthy dose of sludge and maybe a hint of grunge thrown in at times.

"Ochro Ologo," a scorching instrumental, gets off to a fast start and is a little heavier than the opening track. "Dancing on your grave" has a Sabbath vibe going on and really kicks it into overdrive about halfway through. "Black Moon" and "Exile" bring more of the same, but this is not a bad thing. The slow start of the twelve-minute closer "Procession of the Witch" lulls you into thinking the song is going nowhere until you realize that it's simply building itself up to be the highlight of the record.

Wolf Blood is available from the band's Bandcamp page at the "name your price" option, or you can pick up the cassette version, which is limited to 100 copies. It reminds me a bit of Harvester's The Blind Summit Recordings from 2012, which is also available at the "name your price" option - Metallurgian

Sleeping shaman
One can be fairly sure that witches are not the only ones who produce unholy sounds and know a lot about herbs. This ensemble from Duluth, Minnesota clearly is well versed in the art of magic, if we presume to call it that. Their fuzzy and frantic music is definitely not born from a sober state.

The way they describe their origins is shrouded in smoke. In a dark basement Wolf Blood was born out of an unholy (yes, I might use that word again later) union of psychedelic music and doom. I’m fairly sure it might have been a garage due to the raw sound of a garage rock band, but a basement sound suits these guys better. The band members have some previous experience in bands like Dirty Horse, Dad’s Acid and The Keep Aways.

So where does that leave the boys from Duluth? Well, they sound a bit like Windhand, but with a bit more fun, along with the push-the-pedal mentality of Doomriders, the old school sound of Witch filled with crackling amps and soaring vocals, that sound just strange and different enough to keep you listening.

The opening riffs of this record immediately grabs your attention and anticipation for what is to come. The vocals on Witch are being shouted, then hissed. There’s a witch in town and the town’s folk are feeling restless. That unrest is the build-up of slow sludgy riffs, escalating quickly into frenzied heavy metal. It’s more fury than technique here, and in general Wolf Blood tends to sound a bit too punk or too stoned for metal. What the title Ochro Ologo means, I cannot tell you. I can tell you it’s a blazing, break-neck speed tune of frantic stoner rock with a lot of guitar riffs chipping off the rocket and floating away. Towards the end of the track, it breaks down again in fat riffs that ring in your ears.

Dancing On Your Grave opens with a nice guitar sound that could come from Saint Vitus or Bedemon. The song starts out calm, builds up atmosphere but then propels onwards into a flurry of guitar work, recapturing its rhythm and then letting go again. The howling vocals and tasty hooks make this, as far as I’m concerned, the strongest track on this record. The amazing guitar skills get half of the song as an introduction to be displayed on Black Moon. After that, a thunderous rhythm with roaring vocals suddenly spills out. As if the dark mass under a black moon was disturbed and the antagonist of the story must flee.

From there on, the hunt has started with galloping rhythms and tense guitar play on Exile. We were talking about witches and this song is definitely the chase. Hectic and severe, the music jutters onward while the vocals are cries of panic and haste, urging us onwards. The song is the shortest on the record but surely it must be the rawest. Wild, haggard and fast, the bass pushes the song to its 3:31 crescendo.

The witch must be caught during the previous song, because Procession Of The Witch tells us so. The muddy, dragging doom track continues on for about 12 minutes. The buzz in that ominous droning sound keeps the listener on edge. After about 7 minutes, the howling vocals come in. Jagged screams over reverberating guitar sounds, creating chaos. Psychedelic layers of guitar shroud the screams of despair towards the end of the song. As if the fire slowly consumes the witch, but the mood remains restless.

I’m amazed that this band is not as well-known as I believe they should be. Their sound fits in with the whole retro movement, but there’s also a typical sound to them to distinguish them from the big pile that tries to cash in on trends. The songs are good and the record is coherent. Perhaps the reason is simply that they’re not that fussed as I am about their album. Seriously, check Wolf Blood out, if you can find them. - Sleeping Shaman

In my last review, of Sunnata’s Climbing the Colossus, I talked about how music from the stoner/sludge/doom genres often relies heavily on pure sonic impact, and the creation of larger-than-life sound mountains that become bigger than the music itself (whatever that means). I think it was an apt qualification for that album, and for plenty of similar albums, but in other cases, I’d like to say that there’s an equally important, perhaps more important, role served by tempo. And this is a bit easier to ignore, I think. People sometimes take tempo for granted, forgetting that it’s as vital to a song’s overall effect as any other factor, but I think that tempo, down to the exact bpm, vies for supreme importance, especially in heavy music. When you go back to the first Sabbath album, you probably aren’t going to be blown away by the sheer force of Tony Iommi’s guitar tone. It’s perfect, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t blow your face off. What blows your (or at least my) face off about that album is tempo and feel. The crawling pace of the eponymous riff when it finally explodes through the thunderstorm, Bill Ward’s masterfully syncopated groove that fades out of “Behind the Wall of Sleep,” Geezer Butler’s funky reserve on “The Warning.” Maybe it’s just me, but these are the moments that really make that album. Sonically, you might say they didn’t catch up until Master of Reality, but as early as the debut they were masters of locking in on the perfect tempos.

What I like about the self-titled debut EP from Minneapolis doomsters Wolf Blood is it makes me think more about tempo than about tone. The album opener, “Witch”, is probably my favorite track, and it’s the best example of how to make a good choice with your tempo. It sits behind the beat, which is one of those abstract expressions that drummers always use, more often than not without really understanding how difficult it actually is to do. Essentially it makes the song feel like it’s always getting slower, but it’s not, it’s just perpetually dragging by the perfect number of milliseconds. Sleep were the seminal masters of this, but Wolf Blood does a pretty darn good job of it too. The clincher is at the 3:30 mark, when it comes back from the obligatory Sweet Leaf/Snowblind thrashy interlude, and settles back down to the original groove. It doesn’t just go from fast back to slow, it goes from fast to even slower than you remembered the slow part being. You expect it to be that tiniest bit faster, but the music pulls you back. Devastating!

I like the vocals on this track, too. They remind me a lot of early Electric Wizard; perhaps a bit clearer, but they’ve still got that lazy sense of loathing, which really stands out compared to the more typical doom/stoner vocal styles, like raspy/bluesy or devilish/growly.

The rest of the album continues to show a mature and original diversity of feels, pummeling full-throttle on “Ocho Ologro,” swinging hard on “Dancing on your Grave,” creeping sinister on “Black Moon,” and finally turning the sludge up to 11 as the seemingly endless dirge “Procession of the Witch” brings things to an agonizing close. All in all, a very enjoyable EP, and a refreshing look at how Wolf Blood strives to follow in the steps of those bands who, in my opinion, made great metal by relying on time just as much as they relied on sound.

Get the album here, and check them out on the latest installment of the Hot Black Blueberry! - the Bent Unit

To conclude this globe-trotting metal excursion we return to the U.S., and to Duluth, Minnesota in particular. That’s the home base of a band named Wolf Blood. They released their debut, self-titled album on tape, but now Burning World Records plans to release it on vinyl in October 2014. The vinyl release features the enticing cover art you see above.

I hunted around for music to hear and discovered that the album is streaming on the band’s Bandcamp page. At this writing I’ve only listened to the first two songs, but man are they good.

“Witch” is mainly slow-moving, sludgy, and narcotic, with a tremendously hooky lead riff and a vocalist who moves from a psychoactive wail to a jagged howl with aplomb. And when the song really starts to roll, heads will bang. The instrumental piece “Ochro Ologo” makes for a nice follow-on contrast, proving that Wolf Blood can bust up the joint, too. It’s got “mosh trigger” written all over it — and it’s catchy as hell. I’ll definitely be listening to the rest of this album later today; the vinyl pre-orders are available now at the Burning World site. - No Clean Singing

I came for the awesome human sacrifice album artwork, I stayed for the great tunes: this pretty accurately describes my introduction to Duluth “psycho-sludge” band Wolf Blood. The group recently released a self-titled cassette on Burning World Records. You can stream it below or purchase one of the few remaining copies (last I checked there were two left). While apparently recorded during the great Duluth flood of 2012, ST doesn’t really come across as particularly watery. Unless the flood happened to unearth the grave of some ancient evil that then washed into the space where Mike Messina (guitar), Jake Paulsrud (drums), Mindy Johnson (guitar), and Brian Wells (bass) happened to be waiting for inspiration. The band’s sound is, in their own words “too stoned to be metal, and too baneful to be indie-rock.” To me it’s pure doom metal. That’s not a genre I have extensive experience listening to, but if this tape is any indicator, I may have to change that. - Reviler

Menacing sludgy metal from Minneapolis 4-piece Wolf Blood. The initial pressing of their debut album (on cassette) sold out in just a few days, apparently. This vinyl release comes ahead of an extensive US tour and it's brutal, loud, sinister and feral. If you play it backwards you can just make out the voice of Satan himself reciting the Lord's Prayer in Transylvainian. Probably. On Burning World Records. - Norman records

Wolfmother, Wolf Eyes, Wolf Parade. Duluth’s own Actual Wolf. Wolf, wolf, wolf. The bands with the word “wolf” in their name are nearly as legion as the bands with the word “black” followed by a noun.

Wolf Blood — who came out of the gate a couple of years ago with a Homegrown show that had longhairs’ tongues clacking — are the latest in a long line of “wolf” bands. (They have yet, however, to land on wolfbandnames.blogspot.

com, where there are exactly 1,000 “wolf” bands listed, with three “Wolf Bloods, none of which are the group from Duluth).

Here’s the thing: While their name may suggest some kind of lack of inventiveness, their music suggests that band names mean little. Wolf Blood just plain rules.

It’s so fantastic to see a heavy, pummeling band coming out of the Twin Ports. It’s such a breath of fresh air to see a group that’s interested in being a machine of destruction. It’s glorious to see someone local pick up the mantle of something nearly true kvlt (Google it, squares). They’re metal, they’re punk, they’re all of those genres’ subgenres, whatever. It doesn’t matter what they are, exactly, just that they’re not friendly, and that just warms this aging rocker’s heart.

The band’s self-titled debut was recently picked up by notable underground metal label Burning World Records after a limited cassette release on Duluth’s Heat Street Records. It’s been repackaged, remixed and remastered, but it’s the same collection of songs in the same sequence as before. (We’ll get into this in a minute.)

The album is a monster. It’s largely doom metal with vocals that sound like a slightly more tone-deaf Ozzy Osbourne with a sweet tooth for black metal. “The Witch” uses a quiet/loud approach and a hypnotic riff to good effect, and it moves into a boogie part out of nowhere just like Black Sabbath used to love to do. “Ochro Ologo” gets more math-rock and frenzied — it sounds more like earlier Mastodon. About midway through the song, drummer Jake Paulsrud makes a case for him being one of the best rock drummers to ever play in a band from this region — his energy, swing and feel is exactly right for this kind of music, and without him, the band would be half as strong. And he rocks a ride bell like few others.

The nearly seven-minute “Dancing On Your Grave” starts with a cool three-over-four riff before moving into something that would’ve sat well on “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.” The midsection of this one is a bit meandering and lacks a bit of focus, but it’s not anything critically impairing. “Black Moon” establishes itself with a moody, lengthy arpeggio motif from Mindy Johnson, Duluth’s primo guitar goddess, and it later morphs into a thrash metal riff that Dave Mustaine could’ve easily slid onto “Peace Sells ... but Who’s Buying?”

“Exile” is one of the top jams on the record — the opening riff sounds like a snake on fire, writhing wildly, and the doom riff at the end sounds like Paul Bunyan laying waste to an entire city with his massive axe.

“Procession of the Witch” is the 12-minute closer. After several minutes of evil bass, guitar noise and spooky organs, the band comes in, once again laying down a monstrous, slow, grinding riff. Paulsrud’s demented vocals don’t even appear until six minutes in or so.

It’s not a huge stretch to say Wolf Blood’s debut is one of the heaviest (if not the heaviest) albums to ever come out of this area of the world, and it’s also a show of immense potential. If the band can come up with recordings in the future that build on the structure they’ve presented here and clean up some of the more meandering, blurry bits, they could find themselves a national or international concern real fast. Regardless of what happens down the road, though, this one’s a real achievement in its own right. One of the best local albums of the year, for sure.

One quibble, however: After getting the remixed (by noted metal producer James Plotkin) version of the album from Burning World, your reviewer did some A/B’ing and came to the conclusion that the original version of the LP is head and shoulders above the remix.

Jake Larson’s mix is cleaner, more present and more lively than the one by Plotkin, and those looking to check the album out would do well to seek the original version. You’d think the big-name guy would’ve smoked the stuff that the local guy did, but it’s not even close. The new version isn’t poor by any means, but it doesn’t compare to the first. Look it up on Bandcamp — it’s still available there. - Duluth News Tribune 10/7/2015

If you've heard about Wolf Blood by now, then you probably know how they've essentially come out of nowhere (or Minnesota) to take things by storm. Their first 100-copy run of their debut album, on affordable cassette, sold out within the first week it was available, and the second pressing is well on its way along the same path. Burning World Records have signed them up, and a more widely available run on vinyl and CD has just emerged for pre-order, with official release on October 1st. Where's the legend-in-the-making bingo card set? I think they just won. - Ride With the Devil

At first it’s difficult to tell if Wolf Blood are being serious on this album. A tormented riff opens the album in try Sabbath style but then descends into some silliness regarding witches replete with whispered vocals. Pure Hammer Horror, by the end of the album all this is put to rest by what is a deeply heavy and dark doom influenced album. It’s an album that lulls you into a false sense of recognition and then proceeds to rip apart all theories in how heavy music should sound. By the end you feel like you have been through the mill and back again. Strangely, it leaves you wanting more.
What is most exciting about Wolf Blood is that they don’t just settle with one style of music. After the rather enjoyable, once you slip into their mindset, opening of ‘Witch’ they then proceed to blast out some death metal style riffs for ‘Ochro Ologo’. It’s an intense moment, but also one where you realise they have a few tricks up their sleeve as a melody starts to surface and the music widens out. All at no expense to the brutality.
‘Dancing On Your Grave’ is a blues style Sabbath song that then turns into something way heavier than that band ever did. It’s a raucous and unstoppable moment and casts Wolf Blood as merchants of an unimpeachable doom variety. This is then thrown to the wind as they head further down the chasm for ‘Black Moon’ and then ‘Exile’, which does its best to play around with your mind.
Possibly best, on an album which is one huge highlight, is ‘Procession Of The Witch’ where it returns to doom territory before losing itself several minutes in the middle of a psych fuelled odyssey. The music roars and the melodies wail inducing head nodding and anguished screams from your every orifice. It’s the true sound of torment and pain and is utterly delicious.
Wolf Blood can lay claim to releasing one of the more heavier releases this year but also one that is surprisingly accessible. There are elements of doom, death and psych throughout, but most of all it’s the sound of classic metal. It’s a blues influenced sound which begs you to try it out and then return again. - Echoesanddust.com

Un sello europeo como es Burning World Records, autor de trabajar con bandas de tal magnitud como pueden ser Elder, Conan, Slomatics o editar la última jam cósmica de otro planeta entre los instrumentales Earthless y Heavy Blanket en ese “In A Dutch Haze” (reseña aquí), atrapa una de esas perlas prometedoras venidas del otro lado del charco, llamados Wolf Blood.

En estos primeros días que corren en el mes de Octubre, la discográfica con base en Holanda, lanzará el nuevo debut de este cuarteto de Duluth (Minneapolis). El propio sello, orgulloso de su fichaje, califica a esta nueva banda con el suficiente poder de destreza en sus riffs para compararlos con bandas como Windhand o Goatsnake.

Hasta 6 piezas llenas de vigor para degustar desde su bandcamp, demuestran que la primera tirada que lanzaron en formato cassette se vendió en menos de una semana. Ahora, Wolf Blood deciden sacar a pasear toda su rabia en la versión que más se antoja, el preciado y mejor plástico negro.

Como tantas formaciones que nacen a base de improvisación, risas y macarrismo en uno de esos húmedos sótanos de Minneapolis, Wolf Blood nace de las ideas primarias de Mike Messina y Jake Paulsrud (guitarrista y batería, respectivamente). En su haber ciertos toques a un sludge sucio de dudosa pero maravillosa producción, perfecta para su estilo con ciertos toques psych. Esta dupla empieza a escribir piezas que apedreaban los estilos más metaleros y en algunos casos algo funestos a la música indie. Poco tiempo después, la intrusión de Mindy Johnson como segunda guitarra y el bajista Brian Wells, completarían un cuarteto definitivo que empezaba a resultar amenazante.
Su homónimo debut deja muestras de lo más interesantes listas parta esparcir tu hemoglobina craneal con la inicial “Witch”. A partir de aquí, nos esperan 35 minutos de furia desgarradora dónde la crueldad de sus riffs nos alegrará el día. Incluso el desorden que lleva “Ochro Ologo” en sus primeros instantes nos da a pensar que estamos siendo testigos de la mejor carnicería de principiantes de este 2014. Tanto Mike como la fémina Mindy, nos sueltan tal descarga que es inevitable el no desmelenarse. No hay voces, tan solo un huracán endemoniado que te destrozará en pedazos. En particular este tema se puede ver con creces la energía que tienen Wolf Blood y lo alentador que resulta su estilo tan corrosivo.

“Dancing On Your Grave” no es un cover de Motórhead, digamos que empieza a dejar los primeros momentos de este debut por los que verdaderamente creer en esta banda. Aunque cierto aspectos de esta canción despierta una aroma a las bandas nórdicas europeas con un sabor más vikingo, no deja de mezclar esas melodías con la intensidad dejando la pista en un recuerdo más memorable. “Black Moon” prosigue con las melancólicas armonías que llevan durante esta parte del álbum. Algo más lenta, la eufonía se apodera de estos cuatro músicos norteamericanos alcanzando uno de los grandes clímax del disco hasta ese desgarrador final dónde marcan ritmo de caballería para llevarte hasta un extremo infernal. Ese extremo de momento no acaba porque llega “Exile” con la misma fuerza para seguir esa tangente vertiginosa entre estilos más veloces como el sludge más metalero.

Wolf Blood pretenden ser recordados con este nuevo debut y lo mejor para no quitártelos de la cabeza es endosarte una épica llamada “Procession Of The Witch”. Lo sé soy un amante de los temas largos y en muchas ocasiones suelen ser las despedidas más grandilocuentes de este tipo de trabajos y en este hacen lo propio. La fúnebre marcha que marcan los de Duluth empieza a coger un ambiente estremecedor y espeluznante. El largo adiós de Wolf Blood puede resultar algo pesado para los no acostumbrados pero estas 6 piezas que habitan en su debut son una razón por las que creer en el buen porvenir de esta banda y lo que pueden aportar de ahora en adelante. La propia banda se lanzará a la carretera a finales del próximo mes con una gira por todo el territorio estadounidense, por lo demás, aquí seguiremos para recibir buenas nuevas. Me quedo con “Ochro Ologo”, la gran destacada. - La Habitacion 235

The idea that metal has lost it’s roots is nothing new. I’m sure you’ve heard it too. The complaints that metal has become way too polished and stylized these days. A sound which no layer of grit on your latest vinyl can compete with. I understand why bands do it too, but if these people would just quit their whining, they’ll realize there are plenty of talented bands out there that strive for the same dirty ascetic of their predecessors, who just happened to have limiting recording options. Take the first release from psych doom stoners, Wolf Blood from Burning World/Roadburn Records for instance.

Recorded at Sacred Heart by Jake Larson in Duluth MN, the band seems to be making waves in a cross section of scene, calling on the interest of outsiders from other niches. Result of hipster culture holding Wolf Blood in their filthy grasp? In this case, I say let them have it and hop on the Wolf Blood train with them.

I was in their neighboring Wisconsin recently, and trust me, the festivals that go through there and how it’s supposedly the origin of Thrash Metal in America according to some stoner dude I met on the street (not true at all,) Minnesota they can handle a lot more metal culture inside the scene and out.

A powerful portrait is constructed in the first track ‘Witch,’ of a vengeful woman, tied to a cross and set a blaze. Lighting the precedent for this psychedelic, pagan blend of doom, Wolf Blood let the bass groves hang low and heavy, keeping the vocals to a happy medium. The solitary instrumental track, ‘Ochro Ologo’s’ menacing force pummels it’s way forward, paving the way for ‘Black Moon,’ which contains my favourite riff of the album. When you hear it, you’ll know. That driving force is relentless. If played to a different tuning, it could have been a Razor riff.

‘Dancing On Your Grave’ was catchy as hell and remains my favourite on the album. Brian’s bass is prominent and playful. Jake’s wavering vocals sound semi-submerged as he handles the kit masterfully. Each guitar break leaves just enough space for the the next verse to flow or your head to bang in perfect rhythmic balance.

6 tracks long and an athame blade deep, Wolf Blood’s self-titled debut will fulfill your every need for raw, honest riffage, bass heavy mystery and properly recorded drums that don’t sound like plastic over everything else. For fans of Electric Wizard, Uzala, Mala Suerte, Acid King, Dopethrone and Demon Lung, check this band out! I have high hopes for them. - Ghostcultmag.com