You Don't Hurt Me

By their first full length album in 2013, they gave me a very positive impression for their special character. I refer to Wolfsgrey from Romania, that they return four years later with their second full length album. Into the nine tracks contained in “You Don’t Hurt Me” of overall duration of about thirty seven minutes, they unfold their special style, with very few changes since their previous release, in the same passion and energy, while they conclude the album with a cover of the music of “Black Math” of The White Stripes with lyrics taken by the lyrics of a Hungarian poem of Weöres Sándor.

The music of Wolfsgrey is a blend of Heavy Metal, Punk and dirty, old-fashioned, first wave Black Metal. The Heavy Metal riffs are simple. straightforward, they can easily drag you into an unintentional headbanging. The Punk elements are quite intensive, not so much in the riffing or the sound as in the structure of the compositions as also in the violent energy that they put out. Surely, though, we can distinguish the Punk influences also into some tracks, a typical example to be “A nagybányai”. Finally, the Black Metal aesthetics exist throughout the entire album, from the harsh and monotonous sound, to the long, dark riffs. The love of the band for the old school sound (Bathory, Hellhammer) is obvious throughout the entire album. However they don’t forget to make references to the newer Black Metal sound (Burzum, old Mayhem) also, with tracks like “You Don’t Hurt Me!” or “Glorify the Old Great Spirit!”. The structure of the tracks is following the same logic, apart from the style and the rhythm of each track. It is simple, straightforward, without many changes and it is based mainly into the repetition of the main riffs into the body of the song, change int the refrain and again repetition of the main riffs. Although, it sounds boring, it is not. The tracks have the duration needed in order not to become boring, while the energy and the passion that they put out does not allow you to get bored, apart from one or two songs.

The instruments are played with much passion and energy. The guitars have a heavy, dirty sound which fits into the style of the album and the compositions, while regarding their technique, they are stable and accurate in their performance. Also, the bass is heavy and dirty, resulting most of the times to be indistinguishable. However, into the parts that you can listen to it, it is stable and it delivers its lines correctly, while it fills the sound very well. The drums seams to easily adapt both into the rhythmic Punk parts but also into the blasting Black Metal ones. They are played with stability and passion, while the only negative characteristic that i spotted is their poor lines into some passages that they make the sound quite empty. The vocals are grumpy, harsh, dirty vocals that although they sound monotonous , without any changes, their expressiveness and passion makes you to like them. The lyrics are written in English, apart from two tracks which are written in Hungarian and they mainly refer to the disappointment for the world and to the act of suicide, to Satan, to love of the past.

Wolfsgrey continue with their second album into the same style and sound that they had also in their first one. Straightforward tracks, full of energy, with the best ones, in my opinion, to be “Unbreakable” which shows the Heavy Metal side of the band, “You Don’t Hurt Me!” and “Glorify the Old Great Spirit!” that they are homage to the old school of Black Metal and “Turn the Lights Off” which shows a more esoteric and poetic side. I won’t say to you that this album is a masterpiece. It has its nice moments but also its mediocre ones. However, it is a good album that surely it will absolutely satisfy the fans of the old school sound, as also those who listened and appreciated the first effort of the band. It deserves your attention.