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I often measure the quality of black metal by judging its performance as soundtrack to the interruption of a late night robbery. Just imagine; it is past midnight and a burly dude wearing a ski mask is going through your sock drawer. To the creepy light of a flash light you smear your face funny shit until you look like one of the dudes from 1349. Quietly, you set the stereo up to eleven and go full blast with a Horna record. Then, you come out running Braveheart-style wielding and swinging the sharpest knife you own. The robber will freak. Guaranteed. Whether the maneuver will make you a hero or will mean that your obituary would be printed sooner than later is a different story.
In any case, Black Marketers of World War III is almost a fitting soundtrack to the scenario described above. I say almost because the music is not hysterical nor crazed like that of chaotic satanic combos like Horna and a host of others. Instead, Wolvhammer present a fuzzy ultra electric guitar sound where order reigns and the riffs move somewhere between old school punk and old school heavy metal without any of the cheesy artifices or gimmicks. A bit like latter day Dissection with a less polished production, these songs draw the attention not to the energy they evoke but to the sounds themselves. Drummer H.R. for instanc,e is incredibly effective at being minimal. His no frills attack serves the songs and splashes properly in “Call to Assimilate”. Halfway through the same cut we are treated to one of the most brilliant hidden solos in metal our ear holes have ever witnessed..
In most songs, when the tempo is controlled the vocals are the most extreme aspect of Wolvhammer. Phantasmagorical screams dissipate all doubt of blackness. They could have worked just as well in a very intense industrial band. But Wolvhammer is the opposite. It is black metal played by their own rules, on their own turf, a reinterpretation of the genre, of sorts.
In the course of one demo and one Ep this Minneapolis quartet has obviously defined its sound and Black Marketeers of World War III is the result. The songs have this regimental and strict feel. Very nice.. Impeccably played. An immersing listen, no doubt.
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