WOLFEN RELOADED – The Ghost from Within

This is my first encounter with the German rockers known as Wolfen Reloaded and I must say that I find this sophomore effort of theirs titled The Ghost From Within an engaging and delightful listen. Containing bucketloads of muscular riffs, magnificent vocal hooks, and interesting arrangements, the LP immediately stands out as a memorable and creative piece of work that warrants further exploration and analysis on the part of the listener despite it being so instantly attractive. There is an immediacy to tracks such as ‘New World Order’ and ‘King of Fools’ whereas ‘Point of No Return’ and ‘Poison in Your Veins’ are slightly cleverer and more complex in terms of textures and structures and even harbor some progressive tendencies – all of which makes for a dynamic output that has quite a few unexpected twists and turns in store for us. The production does lack a bit of punch and low end, and the raw tone of the guitars occasionally results in the choruses and the big, climactic parts lacking power and coming out sounding somewhat flat, so there is definitely room for improvement in certain areas and its sonic qualities are a bit lacking. Still, the songwriting more than holds up and it provided me with a solid dose of drama and passion, which is just what the mood has called for these past couple of days. Focused and confident are two words that often pop up when spinning this disc.

The energy that courses through Reloaded is infectious and these gentlemen not only sound determined but also \offer an interesting take on the rock music genre that is bound to surprise and thrill the openminded listeners out there. Accessible yet with enough substance to warrant repeated streams.