01. The Swine Of Mount Cashel
02. Unmarked Graves Of The Autochthonous
03. Hudud Execution
04. The Extinguishing Fleets
05. Red Civil Ensign
06. Migrants Of Al-Sham
07. Wolves Of the Trench

This is what melodic death metal is supposed to sound like.

2022’s Trumpets Blare In Blazing Glory was a nice surprise in a melodic death metal landscape that has been dominated by the Gothenburg sound for who knows how many years. Grenadier’s style will sound familiar to anyone who’s explored the darker sides of death metal; it is melodic death metal with a capital death. The triumphant heavy metal-esque riffs are the main course, but the aggression of death metal is still a core tenet of this sound. It is a type of melodic death metal that appeals to me a lot more than the Gothenburg sound, and it also doesn’t suffer from the same saturation as its more popular counterpart. As such, every new release that sounds like this is a treat, and that includes Wolves Of The Trench.

In three years, Grenadier had the time to polish their sound and songwriting. This is immediately evident in how the album sounds; the production is a lot cleaner and fuller than on Trumpets Blare In Blazing Glory, giving the album a much more powerful and dynamic sound. It sounds a lot more professional than their debut, and the tracks really benefit from it.

In terms of songwriting, this is by all means a continuation of Trumpets Blare In Blazing Glory. You can expect the same heavy metal-infused riffs as on the debut, although Grenadier did slip a few eccentricities in there, like the melodic black metal influences in “The Swine Of Mount Cashel”. The vocals do exhibit their fair share of experimentation as well, with some occasional clean singing that works very well, but also whatever the hell is going on in “Wolves Of The Trench”, which doesn’t work in the slightest.

These are some pretty minor evolutions, but this type of death metal doesn’t necessarily call for reinvention, and Wolves Of The Trench has its fair share of bangers, like “Hudud Execution” or “Red Civil Ensign”, which perfectly embody what I enjoy in this style. It’s a well-executed melodic death metal album with catchy riffs and fun solos. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does its job very well, and I don’t think there is much more to expect from it. With its rather short runtime of 35 minutes, it is also a very concise experience. It’s long enough that you aren’t itching for more, and short enough that you don’t get bored.

Quite frankly, if you like this type of death metal, I don’t think there are better alternatives out there than what Grenadier is offering on Wolves Of The Trench. It’s not a mind-blowing album, and I don’t see many people getting more than just a really good time listening to it, but that’s enough to make it memorable and relatively unique within the scene.

Performance:	8
Songwriting:	8
Originality:	6
Production:	8