Album Name: Ways of the Pack
Artist: Wolftopia Aleksander Okhotnikov: Vocals & Guitar Topi Karhunen: Guitar Tim Reus: Bass Tom Israels: Drums
Released: December 2021
Label: Inverse Records
Rating: 7.5/10
Album cover by Roberto Toderico
Tracklist
Hound of War
The Last Embrace of the Mother
Wash the Spears
We are Pack
Predator
May He Sever the Shadow
The Alpha
I am the Storm
Wolftopia's album 'Ways of the Pack' feels like taking a long endless adventure through the wilderness. The tracks within manage to encompass feelings of fear, hope, happiness, sadness, everything that is human, everything that is nature. This melodic death metal band have released something that is more than just another heavy album but rather something that in my opinion feels like a reflective look upon the world around us. 'Ways of the Pack' opens with the familiar single from Wolftopia 'Hound of War'. Released earlier this year 'Hound of War' was the song that introduced me to the Finnish group and was the first song where I got to sit and be like "Damn, these guys are pretty good." Songs such as 'We are Pack' and 'Predator' stand out as favourites from this album for me but I also would have to give an honorable metion to 'The Last Embrace of the Mother'. About 'We are Pack' this song has this beautiful melodic guitar that guides you through the hopeful feeling piece. The song feels huge and surrounded me as I found myself singing along with the title lyric 'We are Pack'. In my opinion this is definitely a song that belongs on stage. My other favourite is 'Predator' the follower to 'We are Pack'. 'Predator' sticks with this hopeful, upbeat like energy and has a very easy beat to follow and is one of those songs that's just comfortable and enjoyable to listen to. Overall, 'Ways of the Pack' is an album that took me by surprise. After hearing a couple of previous singles I knew that Wolftopia would deliver but to hear the whole story put together is really special. This isn't an album that should be broken into different tracks, to truly understand it I think you have to listen to it the whole way through. From the attacking drums in 'The Last Embrace of Mother' to the orchestral ending of closer 'I am the Storm'
to powerful solos in tracks such as 'Wash the Spears', everything in this album feels like it is sitting in it's rightful place. I'm not personally normally a fan of melodic death metal but as a metal/metalcore fan I still found myself really enjoying this project.
Listen to 'Ways of the Pack' HERE
Picture by Hannu Perala (HannuPerala Photography)