Wolfsbane - Wolfsbane (1994) - Time to say farewell on a mostly nostalgic note - 72% (09/09/11)

After a modern, progressive and overall very promising second output, Wolfsbane get two steps away from their improvement instead of advancing and play old fashioned heavy metal and rock and roll on their eponymous record which is their last one to date. In a time when this kind of music was running low, it's surely a sympathetic gesture that Wolfsbane try to keep the spirit of the seventies and eighties alive but I preferred their experimental side and don't really like bands get stuck and live in the past. We have bands like AC/DC and Saxon for people that stopped their own cultural development in the early eighties.

From AC/DC worship boredom as heard in "My Face" to commercial soft rock like in "Black Machine", Wolfsbane deliver everything I don't want to hear them play anymore. Most of the other tracks in the beginning of the record are not even worth to be mentioned.

It's only the end of the record that saves this mellow release from falling completely apart for me. "Violence" could have also been a nice mid tempo rocker from Iron Maiden and is an interesting hint at the future of Wolfbane's charismatic singer. This track would have been the ideal choice for an energizing single. The last track "Die Again" is even better with its discordant dark grunge atmosphere and epic passages. It's one of the most varied and well performed Wolfsbane tracks ever done. The next highlight is the hidden bonus track "Say Goodbye" which is a great blues rock number for hot summer nights that says farewell on a positive and innovating as well as on a more traditional and nostalgic note that simply fits the two faces of the band.

In the end, this two faced album finally let us on a positive and equilibrated note. The album is Wolfsbane's weakest release but the last three tracks are also in the top ten of the band's greatest tracks ever done. That's why I think that this album was still a good way to say farewell and I still happen to listen to this party rock album from time to time.