Band:	Wolfheart
Album:	Shadow World
Style:	Melodic death metal
Release date:	August 21, 2015
A review by:	Dream Taster

01. Aeon Of Cold
02. Zero Gravity
03. Storm Centre
04. Last Of All Winters
05. Nemesis
06. Abyss
07. Resistance
08. Veri

Lahti, Finland. The bay is quiet in winter. The cold seas echo the bluest of skies. Beneath it all lies the shadow world. Ready to explode, waiting to overthrow its masters. Setting the upper world aflame, for it deserves it.

Wolfheart is the latest of Tuomas Saukkonen's bands, having previously disbanded Before The Dawn, Dawn Of Solace, Black Sun Aeon, and RoutaSielu. The guy has always been busy but consistent in his approach to majestic and direct song writing. Halfway between melodic death metal with folk influences and blackened death metal, this incarnation of Tuomas' writings is very much of the times. Since the excellent Winterborn, Wolfheart has evolved from a one-man project to a full lineup. Tuomas drafted drummer Joonas "Jonttu" Kauppinen from Before The Dawn, guitarist Mika Lammassaari from Eternal Tears Of Sorrow and bassist Lauri Silvonen. Shadow World is the result of their collaboration. What can you expect? Read on my friend.

From the onset, things are clearly laid out. Within a minute Shadow World picks up where its predecessor left off. One can hear the same frenetic pace, the same power, the same emotion. And you know what? This is a good thing. At the same time, it feels like a 2015 album. The sound is reminiscent of latest sonic sensations such as Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum. It could be a Finnish thing. Whatever it is, it works. Tuomas growls are as powerful as ever. "Aeon of Cold" opens the album with a nice dose of folk influences added to a solid layer of melodic death metal, reminding us that another Finnish band does this successfully at time. I am talking about Moonsorrow, of course. The barrage of intense melodies kicks in high gear on a bed of blackened death with "Zero Gravity" and never lets go until the whole affair is done and over with. Shadow World is a short but intense album, with a direct approach to aggressive riffs, very much in the tradition of thrash metal albums of the heyday.

Acoustic guitars on "Last of All Winters" - the standout track - and the piano intro on "Nemesis" bring me back to the 90s, when Gothenburg wasn't yet a term used to generalize the genius of this emerging style exemplified by In Flames and Dark Tranquillity while the closing track has a distinct nowadays Enslaved tinge to it.

Proud successor of Winterborn, Shadow World is a solid album of melodic death metal in the recent prominent style of Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum, with an extra once of aggression that sets it apart and influences spanning decades. While it won't redefine the genre, it definitely is a well-executed effort that is sure to deliver the goods for fans of all of the aforementioned bands.