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From time to
time a band comes back from the depths of Rock n' Roll obscurity to give
it one more try and Canada’s White Wolf are one such band.
After a
conversation between vocalist Don Wolf and Escape Music’s Khalil Turk
about a third White Wolf album, began to sow the seeds of a new chapter in
the bands career and after Wolf called guitarist Cam Macleod the seeds had
already taken root and the birth of 'Victim of the Spotlight' had started.
Although it's
been some twenty years since the bands last album ‘Endangered Species’,
this new album fits in nicely with the European metal and hard rock scene
of today. With some stirring guitars and Don Wolfs Gary Barden/Joe
Lynn Turner crossover vocal style, as the opener and title track ‘Victim
of the Spotlight’ shows, with the rest of the band showing their metal
with some fine guitars courtesy of Macleod and new member Martin Kronlund,
as well as a thumping back beat provided by fellow new members Imre Daun
on drums and Rikard Quist on bass.
The streaming
guitars of Macleod and Kronlund are main stay of the next track ‘The
Wolf’, with Wolf’s bellowing vocals rising above the guitars like a rock
beacon. This track is just a prelude to one of my favourite tracks
off the album, the wonderful ‘America (Hello Again)’, which shows the band
are much more than the “Metal” tag they have been given as they bring in
some Melodic/Hard rock elements into the mix. This is a superb track
with Wolf showing he can bring in some fantastic harmonies into this new
White Wolf sound, backed by Macleod and Kronlund who are once again simply
superb.
The album goes
from strength to strength as things continue to impress with the guitar
fuelled ‘The Eyes Of The World’ and the equally impressive ‘One More Lie’,
where those Barden style vocals really come to mind.
White Wolf once
again show their hard rock credentials on ‘Hard Cold Stone’. This is
another one where Macleod’s guitars come to the forefront of the track.
The same hard rock sound is continued on into ‘Price of One’, this time
with a touch more bite and with Wolf laying down his most assertive vocals
so far as the band head towards that Metal tag with this one.
Another of my
favourite tracks off the album is the riff laden ‘Dreams Are Forever’, a
track that is very Dio in its conception. Huge soaring guitars mixed
with some haunting keyboards combined with Wolf’s towering vocals.
We’ve had the
dreams now for the ‘Nightmares’, this is another anthemic piece of melodic
metal that will have the European melodic metallers in raptures with its
Dokken like guitar sound.
We keep with the
metal refrain as the twin guitars of Macleod and Kronlund introduce ‘Hold
On (Getting’ Tighter)’, the first of the twin vocal tracks with ‘Don’t
Turn Away’. These two bring in a whole new sound to the album as
Macleod shows he has a good set of pipes on him. These two tracks
are also ideal single material.
The album closes
with ‘Out of Control’, a more traditional melodic metal outing that could
have appeared on the new Saxon album. It sure has that old school
appeal and closes a great comeback album. Hopefully this will get
enough interest to bring the band over to Europe for a few shows so we can
once again hear While Wolf in the live arena where they belong. |
