REVIEW: ROADWOLF “MIDNIGHT LIGHTNING” (AUSTRIA)

Brace yourself for an ear-shattering, face-melting experience as Austrian heavy metal sensations ROADWOLF unleash their highly-anticipated sophomore album, Midnight Lightning, out on May 19, 2023 via Napalm Records! With their debut album, Unchain the Wolf (2020), the band firmly established themselves as purveyors of classic heavy metal, drawing inspiration from legendary acts such as Judas Priest, Saxon, UFO, Dio and Ozzy Osbourne. Since its release, the band has turned heads on stage, performing at renowned metal festivals such as Wacken and sharing the stage with notable acts such as Enforcer, Skull Fist, Bullet, Lizzy Borden, Vicious Rumors, and Night Demon. Now, they bring the madness directly to you with their all killers no fillers album Midnight Lightning!

Napalm Records

ROADWOLF are:
Franz Bauer – vocals
Valentin Strasser – guitar
Christoph Aigner – bass
Emanoel Bruckmüller – drums

Review

On The Run rolls into your ears like a steam train chugging along at full speed, fired up and shooting steam into the sky! The skipping snare and drum patterns, electrifying guitar work pulsating bass lines create a wholesome backdrop to the tearing vocal lines delivered by Franz.

Midnight Lightning will scorch the earth you walk on with its big, bold and uplifting sound. Roadwolf have this distinct rounded sound going which feels like a mix of heavy metal, hard rock and AC/CD come Guns N Roses vibe in the vocal delivery. Screeching guitar ideas are plentiful. From the smooth sailing rhythms to the screeching and smouldering hot guitar licks that burn through the mix, you will be not disappointed!

Get ready to be tainted with the Mark of The Devil! The third track from “Midnight Lightning” continues with thunderous and menacing heavy metal that feels classic. At moments I get big Priest and Saxon vibes and I feel this track would go down really well in a live setting!

Supernatural breaks down to more of a slower pace. The booming tones of bass guitar and singing lead starts off the song before we drift into a beautiful opening sequence of mellow guitar ideas. I can almost imagine a backdrop of a sun setting on the horizon, with a gentle breeze running through your hair. Supernatural is a song that will evoke feelings and emotions from your very core. The hard driving rhythm sections throughout the song are soaked in passion and warmth and is something I love about this track. And as we reach 3/4 of the way through, deep low chords are left to ring out acting as a backbone to a fitting scaling lead. Soon enough we reach a bright and tantalising solo before the end of the song!

Get your engines fired up, petrol topped up as we hit the fast and furious song High Under Pressure. Its a belter of a song throughout but the use of saxophone is a surprising addition to the song that you rarely hear in heavy metal. And to be honest, I am unsure if its a good idea. It makes it almost feel like it should be in a weird action movie. Never the less the rest of the song is pretty killer.

When Sons of the Golden Horde started up I seriously thought holy cow! This is thunderous beast of a song. It is as if the skies opened up to let the gods throw down bolts of lightning. Pummelling drum patterns from the toms and kick drums combined with explosive riffs are all present. And an evil tone runs through the veins of the song which makes it all that more interesting.

Don’t Deliver Us From Evil is a pure stomper that I could see masses of people fist pumping too with ease. Its oldskool, its heavy and Franz leads this song with his epic and resonating vocal lines. Considering this my first time listening to Roadwolf properly I feel that they are a band that knows how to blend the heavy metal sounds of the 80’s with a a modern day approach. And this song is certainly a prime example of this blend done perfectly.

Moving on we reach the next song Running Out of Time! Get ready to rock hard to this next track as once again it feels like its got that touch of swagger found in music from the likes of Guns n Roses. And what is surprising is that this is track feels different to other tracks on the album, which can be seen as a good thing. Roadwolf know how bring variety to their song writing which makes things more interesting and brings a sense of balance.

Savage Child continues with the heavy metal and hard rock blend which will give you a nice top up of caffeine. Racing at full speed this delivers on attitude and energy. If this song was played live I can imagine a crowd going buts to this. I think that is because it has a lot of intensity to it with so much going on. Make sure you turn this song up to 11 and get ready blast it out loud!

And so we reach he last song Isolated Hearts. The mood shifts massively as this ballad feels like a perfect choice track to end this album after a mass of mostly energetic tracks. It combines the touching tones of sweet piano and gentle guitar notes led by Franz singing his heart out. The light use of dynamics helps you to really get a good feel for Isolated Tracks. Brilliant

Conclusion

Well what can I say! This album is on fire and as a first time listener to Roadwolf I love how they blend elements of classic heavy metal reminiscent of bands like Priest and Saxon with the sounds of hard rock nodding to the likes of Guns N Roses. It feels well balanced between high energy songs and slower paced numbers. And while it did have a moment with the risky saxophone addition on High Under Pressure I think the rest of the album makes up for it. This is a fantastic album full of scorching riffs and vocal ideas that will give you plenty of opportunities to sing your heart out too while throwing yourself around with out a care in the world!

THENWOTHM SCORE: 8.5/10

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