Album Review GRAND MAGUS Wolf God (04/19)

Grand Magus was founded in Stockholm, Sweden  by JB Christofferson (vocals/guitars) and Mats “Fox” Skinner (bass) in 1996. Since 2012  the trio is completed by drummer Ludwig "Ludde" Witt. In November of 2001 the self-titled debut album was released and since then seven more studio albums. Drawing influence from bands such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Manowar, Grand Magus' sound consists of an amalgamation of heavy metal and doom. I have been a fan for a few years now, I have been quite satisfied with the last two albums Sword Songs and Triumph And Power.

Wolf God is the ninth album and fourth with Nuclear Blast. There's this phenomena in metal in which we can simplistically split the fan base into two major groups: The ones that complain that a band is not "evolving"/changing their sound and the ones that complain that a band sounds the same in every album. If you are in the latter, then you will have a problem with Wolf God. All the elements that make Grand Magus a very good band within their style are present, but those are the same elements we came to know from recent albums. There's nothing new out of this album. The groove, memorable hymns and heaviness that were featured on the predecessors are all here. The thick guitar riffs based on power chords dominate the mix. I wish more elaborated riffs like in "Spear Thrower" and "To Live and Die in Solitude" would appear more often though. The guitar solos are short but a couple of them are quite memorable such as in "Brother of the Storm", "Spear Thrower" and "Untamed". While they are influence by Priest and Manowar, the vocal delivery has nothing to do with Halford or Adams. Instead, it's a lower and much more limited vocal range, but it fits very well their sound and doomy riffs.

Despite the album being relatively short (39 minutes) with 9 songs and the intro, there's still a feeling of featuring some fillers that plagiarize themselves. I'm sure I have already heard "Dawn of Fire"  before. Also, the intro for example it's almost 2:30 minutes and it doesn't add much. Even the title track and single features a very boring chorus. Actually, in many songs the chorus is just repeating the track title. I'm probably sounding more negative than the reality. Please don't get me wrong, it's still a good album, specially for the diehard fans who want "more of the same", but I had high expectations and I was hoping for something more inspired. Still, there are some tracks that I really liked such as the Motorhead homage "He Sent Them All to Hel", the groovy single "Brother of the Storm" and the closer "Untamed" which features the best drumming on the album.

This is a good album for the ones who loved their previous releases as it sounds just the same. It's also fun and fist pumping heavy metal collection. It's an amazing soundtrack for a sunny festival with beers in our hands or for your gym headphones . But musically Wolf God  offers limited value to their overall discography.

SCORE: 77/100
DR: 7
Genre: Heavy/Doom Metal
Released by Nuclear Blast on April 19th, 2019