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Wolfpakk

Wolfpakk

BY Wolfpakk

(Customer Reviews)
$14.00
SKU: AFM372-2
Label:
AFM Records
Category:
Metal/Hard Rock
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"WOLPAKK is a project band formed by Michael Voss and Mark Sweeney. They have enlisted as many guest members as possible. Michael Voss used his experience and clout as a producer and previous history in successful bands to help him in his quest to get all these well known and famous musicians to appear on his album. As you can see from the list of guest musicians they are going to have one hell of a time touring! I think some of those guys might be busy. I would guess at least 20 of them will be. That was a lame attempt of a joke. As impressive as the guest list is, the results are not guaranteed to be equally as impressive. I don’t think that simply by recruiting a small army to play on your album means it’s going to be a masterpiece. If the material isn’t there, it doesn’t matter who is on the album. Be that as it may, they have managed to keep it together as you can hear for yourself. The vast experience of all the musicians involved has produced something truly unique. The album contains many elements of the classic Heavy Metal sound with the main emphasis being on melodic Metal.



I like the song “Lost” were a lot of the guests vocalists get in on the act. Michaela Schober is a primary vocalist on the song as she is the only female vocalist on the album it is easy to tell that it’s her. She is very good and the song is has some nice tempo changes. I like the up tempo part with the guitars making the chugging sound we are all so familiar with. I liken it to the dampening (Palm muting) done on all the ICED EARTH albums, but with a slightly lesser heaviness. I find it odd that primary lead vocalist is almost always Voss or >Sweeney. I would have made the most out my guest list if I sounded like Kai because as much as I love his music, the guy is not that great of a singer. He never should have let Ralf Scheepers go and done the GAMMA RAY vocals duties on his own as Ralf is light years ahead of him. “Let Me Die” also has an epic chorus and is a very catchy song. If I had to label the music as one genre and only one, it would have to be the much inclusive melodic Metal tag. You can encompass a wide array of sound with that as a label. The more I think of it, the more it fits.



The album simply isn’t fast enough to be Power Metal and it isn’t soft enough to be AOR. I like a good melodic Metal album as much as anyone. Another great aspect to this project is the very great guitar playing, especially the solos. With so many great players they could pick and choose the best of the best and that is exactly what they have done. This is another album that gets better on repeated spins. The diversity keeps everything fresh. If they do another album I hope they choose a better vocalist to do the majority of the songs. They certainly have the ability to do so. It’s a shame, because with the proper selection of a lead vocalist, the material would be elevated dramatically. The last song on the album is an epic tune weighing in at the ten minute mark, and they use all the talent at their disposal the most out of the entire album on this one long song.



There have been hundreds of project bands over the years and they range in quality all over the board just as does any release in whatever aspect. I applaud their efforts with this band I can say truthfully that it is a success and will sell a few copies from the pedigree alone. I know that is done purposefully in most instances. “Wolfony” starts off slow, then blasts off and, then slows down again as so many ten minute plus long epics tend to do. It provides a great ending to the album. If you are a fan of all star bands, then WOLFPAKK is for you. You know they put a lot of money and effort into this release." - Seattle Pi

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    HQ
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    Rise
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    Reign Of The Architect is a multi-national metal project with its core musicians based in Israel.  The main "architect" appears to be Yuval Kramer, guitarist for Amaseffer.  Not surprisingly there is a musical connection here as well.  While most of the members are Israeli, some prominent names crop up: Mike LePond (Symphony X), Jeff Scott Soto, Joost Van Den Broek (After Forever).  The album is put together like a metal opera with various vocalists - male and female filling the different roles.  The overall feel is purely epic in nature.  In terms of musical reference guideposts, Amaseffer and Saviour Machine come to mind but the male/female vocal parts bring to mind Beyond The Bridge.   Highly recommended."Reign of the Architect are a multi-national progressive metal band that came together in 2008. 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What could have been a disappointment instead was revealed to be a truly gripping, cinematic work of symphonic progressive metal.Rise is a sci-fi concept album of some sort. According to Kramer, the story is an “allegory of the powers that rage inside the human soul”, dealing with the subjectivity of things such as good and evil, and right and wrong. In accordance with this duology, the music on this album falls into one of two categories; either slower dramatic and mournful, or heavier bombastic and angry. Both are done in a very cinematic fashion, and combining influences from Latin, Middle Eastern, European, and jazz fusion traditions into one melting pot of progressive metal riffing.After a symphonic intro, the album opens, interestingly enough, not with a high energy song as would be expected, but with a waltz-type song, and then a ballad which starts very minimal and then turns into something more dramatic for the finale. The song “False” has a heavy, desperate feeling, and is a very powerful metal song which descends into a very surprising but very fitting jazz fusion-esque solo. The song also ends with an almost-ragtime piano section, which nicely contrasts the rest of the song.There are three vocalists featured on the album: Davidavi Dolev, Tom Gefen, and Denise Scorofitz – and this is one of its greatest strengths, as each one is given parts that perfectly suit their range and sound within the music. It adds an amazing amount of dynamicism and variance to the album.There are also a few guest vocalists to add even more to what Rise has to offer. The singers are given specific characters that are important to the concept to sing. Most appear throughout, as the concept demands, but Jeff Scott Soto makes his mark on only one track: the brilliant “We Must Retaliate”, the second single release from the album. Members of the Israeli thrash metal band Dark Serpent appear on the final song, “Hopeless War” as soldiers, and also making guest appearances (and acquitting themselves wonderfully) are Joost Van Der Broek (playing a keyboard solo on the first single release, “Distant Similarities”) and Assaf Levy, who provides guitar solos on “False” and “As The Old Turns To Sorrow”.Musically, the rest of the band is excellent. The guitar, drums, bass, and keyboards all sound fantastic and work very well together. Guitar-wise, the riffs in the more metal moments are strong, flowing, and cohesive. The bass parts, half of which are played by Michael Lepond who replaced original bassist Kyle Honea when the latter was unable to continue, are their own entity not just following the guitar. Lepond is a fantastic bassist, one of the best in progressive metal, and it shows here.Rise is three acts and fifteen songs long, running at 65 minutes. 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It is very well-produced and has some very thoughtful lyrics. Rise is definitely one of the top progressive metal albums of the year so far." - The Monolith
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