Sleepwulf – S/T
Release Date: March 6, 2020
From the Scottish Highlands and the forests of Southern Sweden comes a band of young lads called Sleepwulf. Comprised of Sebastian Ihme – guitar, Viktor Sjöström – bass, Carl Lindberg – drums, and Owen Robertson – vocals, Sleepwulf takes a step into 2020 with their self-titled debut album.
Kicking things off with “Wizard Slayer.” The song is a great way to open things up and ease the listener into their sound. “Beasts of Collision” is a fantastic track, and this is where I picked up on the fact that Sleepwulf is an excellent blend of Graveyard and Kadavar with a flavor of the first album Black Sabbath.
“God of the Gaps” is a fantastic, short instrumental piece that unintentionally serves as a kind of intro to the song “Tumbling Towers.” It’s a very dreamy, trippy piece. I loved this piece, and it made me want to hear more like this. “Wicked Man” really brings forward their Kadavar influence while “One-Eyed Sailor” is hands down the best song here with its heavy Graveyard influence.
In all honesty, while I didn’t think this album was terrible but I didn’t think it was great. I found myself somewhat bored, and by the last song was relieved that it was done. Sleepwulf has the skills to do something genuinely great, but only if they would step out of the box that they’ve put themselves into. In this day and age, this genre of music appeals to a mass of people, so if it’s working for them, more power to them. For old guys like me, Graveyard and Kadavar already created their own mold, so why try to replicate it?
On the other side, I think I would rather hear a band these days sound influenced by Graveyard and Kadavar rather than just be another tired, played out “Sabbath Worship” band.
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