1988 was a very interesting year for yours truly as it contained some blinding albums and also my turning point from thrash to death/grind/crust in that order. Why am I saying this, well France’s Lonewolf are a band stuck in and around the 1988 mark when one of said blinding albums by Running Wild was released called “Port Royal”, an album I still utterly adore today. Lonewolf’s music is transfixed in prime time Running Wild with spiked arm bands and gloves matching gaudy spandex speed and power metal trousers of the time, though Lonewolf stick to leather and no spandex thankfully. To my surprise and total shame Lonewolf has been around for over 20 years now which meant a huge listening spree of their back catalogue to see how the band has progressed over that 20 years. I’m sure the band will not be ashamed or annoyed by my saying that the band hasn’t really changed one iota over that time sticking to tried and tested speed and power metal that may have wavered in its popularity over the years but has never had its flame completely extinguished, especially when you have people like me still holding said spiked glove for speed metal even now. If you doubt me then you should check out the latest albums by Steel Aggressor and Hellish Crossfire to name a couple.

With Jens Börner it appears as the only original guy left in the band Lonewolf certainly know how to write exhilarating songs that make you clench your fist and raise them high in the air in salutation. Kicking this fifth album off is the bands namesake tune “Lonewolf” with a pleasant intro and rollocking double bass kick. The vocals are highly choral, have a ball to the wall chanting angle alongside the, shall we say, anthemic lyrics as opposed to cheesy. The guy even has that Rock ‘N’ Rolf gravel tone. The tune is the great antidote to the misery in your existence, a perfect blend of harmonised leads and riffs that create a true headbanging tune to uplift your spirits. The pure heavy metal of “Crawling To Hell” will have Manowar devotees shouting rip off as is the title track and despite this I like these tunes, even though I find Manowar damn annoying.

More songs about metal with “Hellbent For Metal” being speed metal Priest adoration especially with the 1980s riffing style which I am a total sucker for. The lead however is power metal, being highly melodic and tuneful, but without being wimpy. “Celtic Heart” is an obligatory styled ballad which for once isn’t so damn timid it makes me want to turn it off. Instead the song focuses on driving guitar work and solos which reminded me of Primal Fear’s work. A huge Saxon like riff starts “The Last Defenders” as once again the plethora of leads seems unending in their creativity and melody. It’s back to full on Running Wild worship on “Cold” which has an immense riff that is not too far removed from “The Rivalry” album. Also the choral breaks are like “Port Royal” material but that is probably true for most of this album. There’s lots of macho bellowing and coupled to the power the song generates this is my favourite of the album and is sure to hit my car gig compilations a few times this year. Beware this song could seriously damage your accelerator pedal, and driving licence if you’re not careful.

Into the last few tunes and here there is Hammerfall like bounce to the riffing on “The One You Never See”. The song is slower and has a folk like inflection on the riff and vocal style, though it is very subtle. The power metal lead off on “Tally Ho” is transformed to pure Running Wild knee bending adulation which is damn fine by me. I am certain that many reviews of this will be indifferent due to its similarity to said RW and a host of other power and speed metal acts but when an album contains jolly good metal then why not sing its praises and enjoy it for what it is, a rousing heavy metal album that will light your heart and make you smile.

 

(8/10 Martin Harris) 

http://www.lonewolfdivision.com