THE BEAST

NIGHTWÖLFF - Riding The Night - Reviewed By saitenkult ! Check it out here at this link: https://www.saitenkult.de/2023/02/20/nightwoelff-riding-the-night/

If you ask me, as an active music collector since 1989 and a long-time heavy metal fan of all calibers, what my favorite areas are, I never tire of identifying the classic heavy metal / hard rock of the 80s as a sound terrain on which my ears and my heart feel the best. I've already been on a trip around the world, from my German homeland to all neighboring countries, the USA, Asia, South America, the Balkans and other regions of Europe that are further away from me. Of course, many South American and Asian bands are certainly more obscure for us because they are simply less tangible. But most of my collection of musical treasures probably comes from the USA and the UK. There alone the abundance of hard rock bands is indescribable. And I mean only the old ones cult chapels, which often have a mystical aura. But there are not only old bands with old camels, which are presented to us as re-releases by resourceful label makers as the ultimate hot shit (I'm still waiting for the re-release of the Californian LODESTONE and their only LP from 1981. At least it's worth it. Where's "Arkeyn Steel", "Steel Legacy", "No Remorse" or "Cult Metal Classics" when you need them? Are they taking an ouzo break?). Where are "Arkeyn Steel", "Steel Legacy", "No Remorse" or "Cult Metal Classics" when you need them? Are they taking an ouzo break?). Where are "Arkeyn Steel", "Steel Legacy", "No Remorse" or "Cult Metal Classics" when you need them? Are they taking an ouzo break?).

There's also new shit here and there that sounds like old shit. Ever since I discovered the teasing YouTube channel "NWoTHM", I'm even aware of how much new-old shit there is. And a lot of it is shit. Well intentioned, nicely done, but a waste of precious lifetime in my opinion. If you're a freshman and want to reflect on old metal values, then please study all aspects of the era, become one with them. Am I bitching? I'm just a fat guy in my late 40s with a bald head and a weird gray beard. Even if I tackled RITUAL STEEL myself, what else do I know this year? At least what I would spend money on.

When I listen to NIGHTWÖLFF from Eugene, Oregon, USA, my faith in Heavy Metal is rekindled. 2023 is on the release, which I have only had digitally so far. But that can't be, right? Ah, Witches Brew, dear Cheryl Schindler, that amazing person and busy heavy metal fan. She dug and dug up. Her releases in thrash metal are wonderful, in black and death metal she has a good hand for obscure bands that break the mold. And in Heavy Metal that just has to do justice to the old heroes. And it will.

In the band photo I see four young men who look a bit more daring, playing their nightly round of Black Jack. I'm looking at the album cover of 'Riding The Night'. Against a yellow night sky with clouds you see a grumpy werewolf cruising through a cemetery on a chopper motorbike. Graphically implemented in a rather primitive way, it somehow makes you want to listen to the music on offer. The band name with Ö and double F makes me expect a third-rate epoch tribute band, but Cheryl actually only releases cool stuff. So listen and…bang along.

'Hell Train' opens with scratchy riffs and polyphonic infernal leads, then the rough, rusty, growling but melodic voice presents itself. Cult shock rock metal bands from the 80s immediately come to mind. The stomping, rocking style of the composition, this straightforward power and the catchiness with the big, cool rock star gestures is typical for Amimetal, especially from the second half of the 80s. NIGHTWÖLFF definitely have a good hand for riffs that are familiar and yet gripping. Nice twists and turns give the songs just the right punch of suspense here and there. Just like the title song, which picks up the listener with clever passage changes and a not quite straight-forward structure of the parts. I don't want to claim here that NIGHTWÖLFF have screwed up completely new melodies, but everything they do sounds so lively, passionate and has a rousing effect. ´Chasing Stars´ for example. The refrain is wailed out longingly, the guitar solos literally explode in your face. The guys hot-bloodedly practice an anthemic US Heavy Metal with a sleazy expression, which made CRÜE world stars in 1981 and later pushed WASP into the front ranks of American metal heroes.

Whenever NIGHTWÖLFF push something up the tube, it's always in the context of Heavy Metal, the old school. Speed ​​metal frenzy is not their thing. As 'LHF (Long Hard Fall)' shows, there is also a hybrid of brisk, driving parts and medium-paced stomping rocking moments. The NIGHTWÖLFF guys practice this right up to the solo part. I'm really lucky to always be nudged into the good new stuff. With GARGANTUAN BLADE or NINE ALTARS in Doom I recently discovered music with an old soul and classic quality from current musicians. Of course I cry easily when I think about my wallet, but those mentioned and the NIGHTWÖLFF that are currently rotating on a continuous loop are worth it. Precisely because NIGHTWÖLFF buck all current trends, US hard rock,

The beautiful 'Still Waters', a ballad with a powerful rocking chorus, was to become a real hit. Even if the music is generally good to listen to in winter, it has a hot, good-weather vibe and I can imagine a club crowd going wild when I listen to one or the other song here. For profound hours in the elegantly furnished men's room, where you smoke expensive cigars, enjoy good whiskey and sit in magnificent armchairs at the smoking table, epic doom bands are more suitable, the Boyz from Oregon could turn rather stuffy clubs in Los Angeles into seething cauldrons. They have the 'California feeling' completely inside. And that without sounding like modern power pop or even a soulless sleaze rock pastiche. They're still an underground band and really heavy. Even a pub rock ballad with a country road phrase like 'Lonesome Road' at some points. And this song also fits in here, but it could also have refined an old Guns'n'Roses record (when they were really good). I thought so, such simple and beautiful hymns to the heart are no longer written.

So you can still design heavy metal in a classic way and strive for higher consecration and still be true to the underground. As an 80s record, this would be a mainstream legend this year. As a re-release from a young band only appearing in 2021, it's admirable. I'm enjoying it, so pre-order the CD from Cheryl.

(9 points) saitenkult

Release Date: 24 February 2023

FFO: WASP, KROKUS, ACCEPT

Location: Oregon, USA

Short Bio: Nightwölff comes from the ashes of an 80's heavy metal tribute act "SnowDragon" that went their separate ways in 2018. All members had some things in common: Traditional Heavy Metal from past and present and whiskey. In 2019 4 members of SnowDragon regrouped and started writing "riffs" in the traditional metal "vain” as a way to keep expressing their musical needs. Two members (Ryan Scott and Graham Bellerby) were mid-twenties and loved all things metal, including the greatest era/style ever, the eighties. The other two bandmates (Edward Weir and Jeff (JD) Scott) were members of various metal bands in the eighties and had longed to recover those glory days. The mix of two different generations of musicians writing straightforward, heavy riff driven metal gave birth to the sound  that is Nightwölff. All band members reside in Oregon and truly enjoy the new traditional metal scene. 

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/witchesbrewthrashes
Instagram: witchesbrewthrashes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nightwolffrocks
Instagram: nightwolff_rocks
Bandcamp: https://witchesbrewthrashes.bandcamp.com/music
Bandcamp: https://nightwolffpnw.bandcamp.com/music