WAN : WOLVES OF THE NORTH
Abyss Records
Wan thundered their primitive and evil way into my line of sight because frontman Tsjud was responsible for the vocals on Atra Filia’s demo “Aminus Obscurum”, which came our way early last year, but to expect another mournful doom-death outing would be extremely misguided; Wan’s modus operandi is full-on fast and furious old-school black metal, diabolical, raging and not a little contagious.
To point out the primal spirit of “Wolves of the North” is not to liken it to the most frequently plundered wells of inspiration, for example Gorgoroth or Mayhem (although there’s some of the latter’s early, nasty discordance on opener “13 Sons of the Devil”) – instead Wan go way back, and the manner in which tracks such as “Bortgang” strip their growling, mean riffs right back then kick them up into a more vicious tempo almost immediately should remind you most of all of Venom. The simplistic, hooky riff-work, aura of diabolical rage and all-out martial barbarity with which Wan imbue their compositions is balanced by a gleeful malice – it’s almost palpable how much the band enjoyed getting right back to their disgusting roots.
Although there are, relatively speaking, a lot of tracks executed here, they’re well arranged to showcase Wan’s minimal variation – the slower, more insidious “Dod Kristen Man”, for example, sits very well next to the more lively “Kingdom of Wan”, which has the kind of sharp-edged insistence that would be compelling in the live arena. The best tracks are scattered throughout the album’s length, for example in the form of “Wargoat”, with its grumbling, moody bass and searing, sparse lead, the monumentally primitive “Ulvhall”, which makes use of some very grim, deep intoned vocals, or the pleasingly chaotic, grunt-littered “War of the Unholy”.
It’s early days for Wan, given that they formed only about a year ago, but “Wolves of the North” is an achievement of which they can be rightly proud, a well-written and performed exercise in nostalgic, bestial black metal hatred. It will be interesting to see whether they maintain their momentum – and gain a flesh and blood drummer, which would give them a distinct advantage – if they do, their talent for classic riffs and the creation of an aggressive, Satanic atmosphere should carry them very far indeed.
69/100
ELLEN SIMPSON
