Retaliation

Lasse Johansen, a veteran of the Norwegian scene, has finally unleashed the debut album of Ulvehunger, a project that could have started back in 1991. With such a pedigree - Anders Odden of Cadaver and Frost of Satyricon - Ulvehunger's music was bound to be influenced. "Retaliation" embodies the tug-of-war between old-school death metal and a touch of Satyricon.

Nevertheless, there is no question of direct succession, the riffs are demanding and insistent in their own way. Just a vigorous groove, bordering on black 'n' roll, has been "borrowed" from Satyricon ('Leave Them in Disgrace'). And you won't find any traces of Cadaver's "Hallucinating Anxiety" here, the death metal on "Retaliation" is more like Immortal's "Blizzard Beasts", in the vein of Morbid Angel. Or maybe if you put a typical Bolt Thrower riff over fast drumming ('Declaration of War').

The rhythm guitar sound, distinct and almost dry, strongly influences the death metal attitude, especially since it has the lead in the mix. "Retaliation" is an old school work, but done with imagination, and a pinch of modern patterns (dissonance in almost every song, but used like an exotic ingredient). They love to show off a wild blastbeat, but they often switch from it to melancholic, almost doomy inserts with impressive melodies.

Alas, they are unevenly distributed on the album, in fact the beginning and the end are strong in this respect, while the middle is mediocre. Especially 'Castle of Blood' is a rather poor song. Anyway, "Retaliation" is more for fans of death metal than black metal.

Metalegion # 15