Metal
Seasons Of The Wolf Discography
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New Age Metal From The Underground!
OK, so how often do you actually hear a metal band that doesn't immediately remind you of another band? Every band has influences, and lots of bands sound like their influences. How often do you hear something TRULY original sounding; something that you have to really listen to with full attention to pick out the influences? I don't know about you, but I have a 400GB collection, and it doesn't happen with very many bands. While lots of bands mature into their own unique sound as their careers progress, the bands that are unusual and hard to pin down right from the start are encountered VERY infrequently. This is one of them.
Seasons Of The Wolf are not quite like anything you've probably ever heard before. The most commonly cited influences people hear are Savatage (largely because of the rough, Jon Oliva-like vocals), and Metal Church (which I don't really hear much of, myself). However, the reason I checked them out is because of the influence the band themselves claims to be their biggest: Blue Oyster Cult. BOC are my all time favorite band in the world. The first rock album I ever owned was Blue Oyster Cults' Cultosaurus Erectus. I've see BOC live over 20 times. So any metal band that claims BOC to be the prime influence on their sound I just HAD to check out.
If you have ever listened to BOC, you can hear the influence right away (and if you haven't, WTF is wrong with you!?). While Wes Waddell reminds many people of Jon Oliva of Savatage (which I hear), it's clear if you have heard them enough that his real prime influence was Eric Bloom, lead vocalist for BOC, who did that rough-voice vocal sound decades earlier. Barry Waddell guitar solos sound just like the kind of thing Buck Dharma (lead guitar from BOC) would play. The eerie keyboards are dead on the kind of creepy synth sounds BOCs Allen Lanier used so effectively in their heyday to add to their wall of sound (without the keyboards taking over the music and drowning the guitars out). Like BOC, Seasons Of The Wolf are not always super heavy, but they are VERY doomy and creepy and eerie. They call themselves "new age metal", but calling them "space metal" would not be totally appropriate. Their music would fit perfectly in most scifi and horror films, and I was not at all surprised to find out that they had in fact been used on the soundtracks of several low budget horror flix (none of which I have seen-I don't love any band THAT much).
I don't want to give the impression that this band sound just like BOC; they do not. SOTW don't sound like ANYONE. If you are a BOC fan, you will definitely be able to recognize their impact on Season Of The Wolf sound, but if you're not, that doesn't mean you won't be able to enjoy them. SOTW are much heavier than most of BOCs material, and the songs are generally darker and doomier. BOC used lots of harmony vocals (as most bands did in the 1970s), but SOTW do not - it is just Wes Waddell and that ferocious shreik. Musically, SOTW really do sound a lot like early Savatage, but the guitar sound has a distinct 70's tone to it, which highlights the BOC influence and also adds a really unique feel to the music; nobody really makes guitars sound like this anymore unless they are an artist FROM the 1970's. Somehow it doesn't sound dated, it sounds more like reminscence or homage to the past. Oddly (at least to me), NONE of the reviews I have been able to find mention the BOC influence at all, even though the band do themselves on their own web page. However, there are NO bad reviews of ANY of SOTW recordings. Everyone who hears them is awestruck by how unique, polished and creative the material is. A sampling:
Metal-Rules.com Review of Nocturnal Revelation (4.2/5.0): "If you’re looking for comparisons with other bands, I’d find it very hard to point out anything similar. I must admit though that at times, this band reminds a lot of older Savatage. The general ambiance for the album is a really gloomy mosaic that showcases a dark and very well arranged set of tracks that at times make you feel even “doomy”.
Metal-Rules.com Review of Lost In Hell (4.0/5.0):"As for the music itself, it’s hard to nail it down and say they are like one band or another. It’s clear they are METAL and to my ears they seem rooted in traditional metal from bands like Dio and Black Sabbath. The added keyboards in places give it a different feel, sometimes atmospheric. The song tempos are mid-paced and you will not find hyper speed double kicks, blasts or anything overly intense. What you will hear is solid heavy metal that is not a part of any of the current trends thus making this band stand out."
Metal-Observer.com Review of Nocturnal Revelation (10/10):"Imagine an intricate mixture of METAL CHURCH and old SAVATAGE, plus a few New Age-keyboard-passages and you have a rough inkling of what is going on here. Especially the vocals of singer Wes had been very variable on the previous album. Now they more than ever sound like an excellent mix of David Wayne and Jon Oliva. He's screaming his lungs out with an intensity that neither Mr. Wayne nor Mr. Oliva still manage. Just listen to the demonic "Liar"! Nuff said!"
Metal-Observer.com Review of Seasons Of The Wolf (first release EP) (9/10):"Who likes great bands of the calibre of MANILLA ROAD, DOOMSWORD or BROCAS HELM, will also listen to the call of SEASONS OF THE WOLF."
Metal-Observer.com Review of Lost In Hell (4.0/5.0):"Similar to the first six BLACK SABBATH albums, this CD also will still be attached to your brain decades later."
This torrent includes:
Seasons Of The Wolf EP @ 192Kbps
Lost In Hell @ 320Kbps, my rip
Nocturnal Revelation @ 320Kbps, my rip
Once In A Blue Moon @ 320Kbps, my rip
Enjoy, and Bang It Til It Bleeds!