Articles → Wolfnacht - Dawn Of Heathens Review

Right. Im on the third track of this album, and already I think it is better than the last two Wolfnacht releases, the sub-par and filler-filled "Night Of The Werewolves" and the NSBM/RAC sample-heavy "Totan Fur W.O.T.A.N". So, apart from to show the differences, dont expect me to talk about those much, no, I'm going to compare this release to the one which - to be quite honest - so far (I'm listening to Dawn Of Heathens as I review it) is clearly the best Wolfnacht full-length, "Heidentum".

The second track, "Wild Hunt" (the first track, "Kampf-Krieg-Seig" is more of an intro) gets off to a frankly excellent start, It sounds entirely like it could have been on "Heidentum", but wasnt. The Guitar tone is the same, that beautiful hollow and raspy treble-filled tone. I swear Athalwolf is using the same drum machine as he did in "Heidentum", as the drums have the same tone and feel to them. However the major difference so far, between track two, and Heidentum is the vocals. They are *vastly* Improved. Improved over "Heidentum", improved over "Night Of The
Werewolves" and improved over "Totan Fur W.O.T.A.N". They sound Harsh, Hateful, Raw, Tortured and Demonic all in one go, it's as if Athalwolf tried cutting his vocal cords, dousing them in and exceptionally stinging medicinal alcohol, then recording the vocals, they are absolutely brilliant.

"Black Bubonic Plague (Part II)" (track 3) has suprised me. I was expecting it to sound like "Black Bubonic Plague (To The Fuckin' Jews)" from the "Night Of The Werewolf" release. Thankfully, i've been pleasantly surprised, as it doesnt sound like mediocre bog-standard NSBM, it sounds like the still-unique Heidentum*.

The track "W.O.T.A.N Returns" is more like the material from "Totan Fur W.O.T.A.N" (known as "TFWOTAN" from now on) - a mix of NSBM and RAC, and this mix is heavily in favour of RAC - however the tone and feel of the music still retains the excellence of Heidentum, but with the stylistic qualities of "TFWOTAN", at 2:22, the track isnt long, but short and sweet, and I for one am glad that it wasnt 3 minutes plus or to be honest, it would have dragged on. But it's not 3 minutes plus, so it is again a good song.

"Totaler Kreig" sounds like a more trebly version of an Antisemitex song, low-octaved guitar riff (but not Antisemitex levels of low), simplistic yet pounding drums, and a sampled speech (which I assume is a Hitler speech) which sets a violent tone. One problem I notice with this song is that when there is a fill on the drums, im not sure the toms have been picked up properly, so all the fills seem to be at a lower volume than the main beat. Again, at 3 minutes exactly, this song narrowly avoids dragging on un-entertainingly, but keeps it short and sweet and as such is a much better song for it.

"Wotansvolk Erwache" has to have the catchiest intro riff since Der Sturmer "The Hammer Falls On Zion" - its a peice of trebly, hollow NSBM excellence, on a par with the best of the "Heidentum" album. Even though it *is* a remake of the track of the same name on the "Fur Den Seig" demo, I dont remember anything on that demo being *anywhere* near as good as anything on "Heidentum", and therefore as good as this song. The acoustic-sounding part at the end with orchestal voice synths overlayed is an exceptionally well done touch of extra melody to break the pace of the album and provide a brief respite.

"Winterwald... Mein Reich" is a good song. Nothing I can say about it that i havent already said about this album and its "Heidentum" like sound, although the parts where the drums drop out for a few seconds and the guitar carries on and the drums slowly bash their way back into the song is very well done, and the scream of "Winterwaaaaaaaaaald! Meiin Reiiich!" at about 3 minutes 20 is definately on par with Immortal's "Call Of The Wint-er-Moooooooooooon!" or "Blashyrk Mighty Ravendaaaaaaaark!!" or even Dead's otherwordly vocal performance on "Freezing Moon" (and yes, I did just reference Dead).

[edited section]
"På Vikingtog", the outro track is a cover (and enhancement) of a norwegian NS marching song, "Parademarsch der Legion Condor". It sounds militaristic, oppressive and its absolutely brilliant, and when the guitars kick in at about 2:51 it further reinforces the dominant and oppresive feel of this song, which sounds utterly immense, for want of a better word, and when it picks up the pace towards the end (at about 4:27) it becomes oppressive, militaristic, dominant, and Crushing. yes, it actually sounds Crushing.
[end of edited section]

And then it just stops dead in its tracks. Considering I was expecting this album to be like "TFWOTAN" the whole way through, This album has impressed me considerably. When I first heard Heidentum, i absolutely loved it. It was a brilliant release. Night Of The Werewolves considerably ruined this illusion, and "TFWOTAN" - while not excellent - was acceptable, and when I heard about Dawn Of Heathens, my hopes were raised immensely, and to be quite honest, Dawn Of Heathens both met and exceeded my expectations. Although there is *one* Minor issue, which should be mentioned, anyone who was hoping for a song that sounded just like the five-star, ten-out-of-ten "Ein Damonischer Winter Verhullt Den Schattenturm" will be dissapointed, as the closest this album gets its "Pa Vikingtog" - but Considering "Pa Vikingtog" is an excellent song, they wont be let down too badly. I wasnt expecting to hear a 2nd Heidentum, I was expecting more NSBM/RAC mediocrity. Oh how glorious it is to be wrong. 93/100


Standout Tracks: "Wild Hunt", "Black Bubonic Plague (Part II)", "Winterwald... Mein Reich" and "Pa Vikingtog"

* I say "still-unique" as in "Heidentum" and now this album have a sound and feel that is almost completely unique to Wolfnacht, in my experience, whereas "Night Of The Werewolves" and "TFWOTAN" sound rather like generic NSBM in comparison to Heidentum or this release.

[to be posted on metal-archives and legionbm as soon as possible. I am the original author of this review]