Wolverine - The Window Purpose
DVS Records - 2001
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the DVS Records web site.
Seems like all the good albums in a certain genre came in pairs this month! Having received Flowing Tears and Tiamat's new albums at the same time, I had a pair of excellent goth-metal releases. And now, with both this album and Vanden Plas's 'Beyond Daylight' arriving at the same time, my quota of good prog-metal bands has been filled.
With a more contemporary (and, in places, significantly heavier) approach to progressive metal than either Dream Theater or Vanden Plas, Wolverine have offered up a concept album based around the remembrance of the life of a recently deceased individual. Throught the course of the album, the listener is taken on a musical journey through the trials and tribulations of his existence to the eventual release brought by his death. A slightly unoriginal concept, I know, but one that offers a decent amount of scope for emotional depth in the songs.
And Wolverine handle this very well. From the balls-out rock of 'My Room' to the haunting yet sinister strains of 'Within These Walls', to the almost defiant tones of 'A Silent Outside' and touching everything in between, Wolverine constantly manage to get your head banging to an aggressive riff, your ears pricking up to cool solos and keyboard flourishes, and your eyes watering to occasionally quite sentimental musical movements.
The songs, as is seemingly prerequisite for prog-metal, are quite long, but Wolverine manage to retain interest throughout. They also take the unusual step of including harsh, growling vocals courtesy of the drummer as well as the more typical, high-pitched quasi-operatic strains of the lead vocalist.
As prog-metal albums go, this is a more original and interesting record than most, and well worth a spin.
7.5/10
DVS Records - 2001
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the DVS Records web site.
Seems like all the good albums in a certain genre came in pairs this month! Having received Flowing Tears and Tiamat's new albums at the same time, I had a pair of excellent goth-metal releases. And now, with both this album and Vanden Plas's 'Beyond Daylight' arriving at the same time, my quota of good prog-metal bands has been filled.
With a more contemporary (and, in places, significantly heavier) approach to progressive metal than either Dream Theater or Vanden Plas, Wolverine have offered up a concept album based around the remembrance of the life of a recently deceased individual. Throught the course of the album, the listener is taken on a musical journey through the trials and tribulations of his existence to the eventual release brought by his death. A slightly unoriginal concept, I know, but one that offers a decent amount of scope for emotional depth in the songs.
And Wolverine handle this very well. From the balls-out rock of 'My Room' to the haunting yet sinister strains of 'Within These Walls', to the almost defiant tones of 'A Silent Outside' and touching everything in between, Wolverine constantly manage to get your head banging to an aggressive riff, your ears pricking up to cool solos and keyboard flourishes, and your eyes watering to occasionally quite sentimental musical movements.
The songs, as is seemingly prerequisite for prog-metal, are quite long, but Wolverine manage to retain interest throughout. They also take the unusual step of including harsh, growling vocals courtesy of the drummer as well as the more typical, high-pitched quasi-operatic strains of the lead vocalist.
As prog-metal albums go, this is a more original and interesting record than most, and well worth a spin.
7.5/10
