Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Album Year: 2013
Location: Lansing, Michigan
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/MourningWolf
Buy/Listen: http://mourningwolf.bandcamp.com/
I don’t follow melodic death metal too much, but it seems to me in recent years the originality and raw emotion of the early Gothenburg bands has mostly disappeared, replaced by Axe-Fx II’s and modern recording technology. Mourning Wolf is not one of these over-processed In Flames clones. Mourning Wolf combines melodic death metal with ambient and black metal in a way that I won’t soon forget.
Just by looking at the length of the songs, I knew I was going to like this EP. I have recently spent a lot of time listening to ambient black metal, so I’ve gotten used to the long songs. “Elmhaven” takes melodic death metal to a new level of melody I haven’t seen since Amon Amarth’s “Versus The World”. The riffs are very well written, and drew me in from the first few seconds of Elmhaven Part I. Unlike Amon Amarth’s recent work, the song structure is built almost entirely around epic melodies. The vocals and drumming don’t feel tacked on, but they are clearly not the main focus of the songs. Every instrument blends very well in the overall sound, with the exception of the vocals at some parts.
Very little of “Elmhaven” was monotonous or out of place, with the exception of the high screams. I think the vocalist needs to work a bit more on their sound, or go for a “more brutal” approach. He’s not a bad vocalist, but he could be a bit better. Overall, “Elmhaven” was an excellent EP, and I’m definitely looking forward to hearing more from this band in the future.
Rating: 4.75/5