Label: Folter Records
Date: February 26th, 2021
Upon looking at the band’s photo you should be getting a pretty good image of what is pressed on the CD. When you find out you’re dealing with a Finnish newborn, the situation should be quite clear. However, this infant is capable of surprises. Somewhat a distorted presence within. Haunting this temple of flesh.
It’s not a huge surprise, don’t worry. “Ferocious Blasphemic Warfare” is, as the title would suggest, a real ferocious piece of blackest metal. Following the 90’s tradition, Wolves Of Perdition created a truly aggressive and merciless attack on the aging fandom of the genre. The majority of material presented on the album is indeed influenced by the Scandinavian roots. Not so much Finnish though. I would easily place this band in Sweden if I did not know better. Dark Funeral comes to my mind most frequently, be it their original 90’s sound or the more elaborate expressions the Swedes are offering recently. It is the relentless riffing that bears the most resemblance. Also, this dreadful pounding out of the drum kit that should give you an easy shell-shock. Lyrics are also going along the similar lines. Not quite simple or filled with clichés, but just a step above.
Now, even if the basis of Wolves Of Perdition’s sound lays within the fortress of Scandinavian black metal, you cannot really place these riffs to a pile of “heard before”. Arrangements are not nearly predictable, or what you could have heard a million times before. There is a definite flow to the individual songs even if the tempos change fairly often. Regarding tempos, when the songs on “Ferocious Blasphemic Warfare” go for a lightning speed, I can almost hear Infernal War, though the Finns do not reach the compositional monstrosity of the in(famous) Poles.
When speaking about the mentioned surprises, the one thing that shouldn’t fit in with the overall perception of Wolves Of Perdition are the melodic pieces. Be it the lead guitar that occasionally takes those recognizable Dark Funeral leads and makes then more melodic, or a couple of atmospheric interludes within. However, please do not associate any of this to some condescension to the crowds of modern metal fans. These melodies are still quite dark and menacing, again taking the listener to Sweden and the old melodic death metal. Take Dissection as an example and put them through a meat grinder of fierce black metal.
On the other hand, the last “regular” song, called “REV 13.4”, hands out such an epic feeling that in some of its parts can recall even Rotting Christ. Again with those melodies, of course.
Well, I’ve written above that it shouldn’t fit with what the foundation of Wolves Of Perdition is. Shouldn’t, but it does! Magnificently! The result of this is definitely a combination of many various black metal styles, but made into one coherent mixture that will certainly appeal to each end every fan of the genre. What’s more, the album lasts for over fifty-three minutes and it keeps the tension up high from the first to the last minute. Such a rarity these days.
In conclusion, even if this is the debut work by Wolves Of Perdition, it has very much deserved the attention by such a gigantic underground label as Folter Records is. This teaming up should get these Finns the wider recognition they certainly earned with this blasphemous creation.
