REVIEW: Wolfpakk – Rise of the Animal
WOLFPAKK is a metal-allstar project like no other. Started by Mark Sweeny and Michael Voss a few years back, they have managed to collect some of the finest names in metal to make contribution to the Wofpakk Legacy, and “Rise of the Animal”, which is the third album in line, is no exception. Featuring guest appearances by people as Michael Kiske, Ted Poley, Joe Lynn Turner, Don Dokken, Barend Curbois, Ryan Roxie, John Norum, Chris Slade and Mark Terrana, even you can figure out this was going to be something special.
And well…The firs thing I’m going to say is that this album is a little all over the place. It’s starts pretty heavy with the opening track, “Riders of the Storm” followed by “Sock it to Me” only to later transcend into what I’d describe as almost nibbing on the sleaze/80’s kind of genre in songs like “Monkey on Your Back” only to then go back to fast power-metal kind of music, similar to HammerFall almost (“Rise of the Animal”) to AGAIN go back to the more “soft” things. And in the middle of it, there’s a bagpipe solo (“Highlands”). All of this is wrapped out by the calm and powerful “Universe”. Basically, you could call it a musical roller-coaster.
Is it good? Well… yeah. This isn’t the best I’ve heard, but it’s decent, you know? However, there aren’t too many memorable songs for me – the only ones I keep hearing in my head after turning off the record are “Monkey On Your Back” and “Running Out of Time”, and that, for me personally, says a lot. However, the music is done well, and the arrangements are good. You can tell it’s pro’s behind the instruments in this one, and that’s always a big plus. But aside that, it just doesn’t cut it for me. I’m sorry. A few good songs, but that’s about it.
Label: AFM Records
// Sara
Sara Hammerzmith 
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