WolfPakk-Cry Wolf

AFM Records
2013 

It was back in late 2011 that I reviewed Wolfpakk's self-titled debut album. I remember that it was a cool concept, what with having countless guest musicians joining founding members Mark Sweeney (ex-Crystal Ball) and Michael Voss (Mad Max, ex-Casanova), even if the album was not as good as it was billed to be. In a case of concept being better then the actual product, which seems to be the usual route these sort of multi-guest collaborations go, the band's self-titled album might not have been perfect, but it (admittedly) did have it's moments and I thought it was "cool". Not great or anything, but "cool". Now I find myself staring at album two from Wolfpakk and, just as it was back in 2011, Sweeney and Voss have enlisted countless guest musicians to help out. Also, just like it was on the first album, this pair is responsible for all the song-writing duties (with the except of one cover song by Rainbow) so, groove-wise, it does carry the same kind of flow as album number one. They (Voss and Sweeney) also had the last say when it came right down to what the final project would sound like since they were responsible (once again) for the album's production and mix. While the list of who did what on which particular song wasn't made available on the promo, which would have been nice, at least all of the guests were listed. That being the case I just did a quick little cut and past of that part so, if you're at all interested in seeing who all the guests were (and there are some interesting names on the guest list like Ralf Scheepers, Blaze Baley, Many Meyer and Tony Carey) just scroll down past this review. At the bottom I've also attached my review of their 2011 for comparison sake. OK, with all of that out of the way what does "Cry Wolf" have to offer? More of the same really. Album number one was a mix and match of hard rock & traditional heavy metal and so is "Cry Wolf". On Wolfpakk's brand new album you can expect to hear a slew of catchy numbers that, even with a different cast of characters (guests), sound's similar to the material on album number one. So, even with new guest musicians this time around,  Wolfpakk manages to strike a familiar pose on "Cry Wolf". If catchy hard rock/heavy metal with a (slight) 90's vibe sounds like something you might be interested in then "Cry Wolf" should be a easy call. Everything about it sounds professional and there is a lot of talent backing up Wolfpakk's two founding members. But, if you're looking for more of a gritty, heavy and loud sound out of your metal bands then Wolfpakk is not for you. This is the smooth sound of commercial hard rock/heavy metal so it's target audience isn't going to be the Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica and Megadeth crowd. That is unless you're the type of person who likes both ends of the spectrum (commercial and noncommercial metal) in which case I'd say go for it. Either way this is another good album from a band/project that has a lot going for it. 

Vocals:
Amanda Somerville (Kiske/Somerville), Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Göran Edman (Ex-Yngwie Malmsteen), Johnny Gioeli (Axel Rudi Pell, Hardline), Doogie White (Ex-Rainbow, Michael Schenker), Tony Mills (Shy, TNT), Blaze Baley (Ex-Iron Maiden), Piet Sielck (Iron Savior), Jean-Marc Viller (Callaway)

Bass:
Mike Winkler (Session Musician)

Guitars:
Kee Marcello (Ex-Europe), Mandy Meyer (Krokus, Ex-Gotthard), Roland Grapow (Masterplan), Martin Rauber (Top4tea)

Keyboards:
Don Airey (Deep Purple), Tony Carey (Ex-Rainbow)

Drums:Gereon Homann (Eat The Gun), BrianTichy (Whitesnake /Ozzy), Hermann Rarebell (Ex-Scorpions), Roland Jahoda (Ex-Paradox, F.U.C.K.)

http://metalmark.blogspot.com/search?q=WOLFPAKK

Wolfpakk-Rise Of The Animal

AFM Records
2015

Self-recorded at Germany's Kidromm Music, "Rise Of The Animal" is the third full-length release from all-star hard & heavy project Wolfpakk. With a grand total of 11 tracks, "Rise Of The Animal" follows the same premise as Wolfpakk's prior two releases in that you have group visionaries (and primary songwriters) Mark Sweeney (ex-Crystal Ball) and Michael Voss (Michael Schenker, Casanova, Mad Max) teaming up with a group of cherry-picked guest musicians for a hard rock/heavy metal LP. That's the Wolfpakk formula in a nutshell. It's nothing fancy and it certainly isn't complicated and the real truth of it all is that when it comes to these kind of pre-assembled pet projects there's nothing new under the sun. I believe I said as much in my coverage of this band's 2011 self-titled release and it's 2013' follow-up, "Cry Wolf". Both "Wolfpakk" and "Cry Wolf" were good album's even if they were far from being a novel idea. Originality isn't a strong suit when it comes to Wolfpakk's sound and that much holds true on album number three here. But, that has more to do with the actual guest singers involved with "Rise Of the Animal" than the actual music as a lot of the vocalists have distinct styles. Artists like Andi Deris (Helloween), Marc Storace (Krokus), Joe Lynn Turner (ex-Rainbow/Deep Purple), David Reece (ex-Accept), Ted Poley (Danger Danger) and Don Dokken (Dokken) give their respective numbers a real air of familiarity and that can leave the listener with a clear cut case of déjà vu. Opener "Rider Of The Storm" with Andi Deris (Helloween) on lead vocals sounds like a thousand other hard and heavy band we've all heard before while Joe Lynn Turner's "Highlands" sounds eerily like late-period Def Leppard. And of course the real easy example of how familiar it all is would be "Sock It To Me" with Krokus frontman Marc Storace. Obviously Krokus comes to mind as the number rolls along, but so does a heavier AC/DC. These "issues" were on hand with "Wolfpakk" and "Cry Wolf" and they stroll around during the course of these 11 tracks. I will let you in on a dirty little secret though. What bothered me about Wolfpakk's debut and sophomore album doesn't bother me as much here. Yes these numbers will remind you of other bands but it likely won't matter as much to you either as here's the difference. This album flat-out ROCKS! Opener "Rider Of The Storm" kicks in with a heavy groove and fierce bounce and there was never a moment when I dared hit next! Not even once! The third time is the charm as Mark Sweeney and Michael Voss have finally assembled the perfect line-up with one greet track after another! Ted Poley sounds nice on hard rocker "Monkey On Your Back" and when Charlie Huhn (Foghat/, ex-Gary Moore) takes his turn on "Grizzly Man" everything seems right with the world once more! Along with Rick Altzi (Masterplan), Jean-Marc Viller (Callaway), Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween, Unisonic) and Michaela Schober these various guest vocalists give their all for the cause and for fans of sincere hard rock and heavy metal there's no need to keep searching for the perfect mix as it's right here! Catchy songwriting is one thing but when it's done by a who's who list like this that's a whole new ballgame! You can see the actual list of musicians involved below, but for my money "Rise Of The Animal" has a line-up bar none! Due out on April 14th, "Rise Of The Animal" proves that it is possible to strike a familiar cord and still strike it rich!



 "Rise Of The Animal" musicians:


Guitarists: Jeff Watson (Night Ranger), Ryan Roxie (Alice Cooper), Bernie Torme (Ozzy Osbourne), John Norum (Europe), Doug Aldrich (ex-Whitesnake/Dio/Foreigner), Axel Rudi Pell, Martin Rauber.

Bassist: Bob Daisley (ex-Black Sabbath/Gary Moore), Al Barrow (Magnum), Barend Courbois (Blind Guardian).

Keys: Chris Ivo (Jaded Hear)


Bagpipes: Pablo Allen (Skiltron; Dudelsack)

Drums: Mike Terrana (Tarja Turunen), Mark Schulman (Billy Idol, Foreigner), Simon Philips (ex-Toto), Chris Slade (ex-AC/DC), Gereon Homann.

Wolfpakk-Wolfpakk

AFM Records
2011


Wolfpakk is the new project of guitarist Michael Voss (Silver, Demon Drive, Casanova, Bonfire, Mad Max) and vocalist Mark Sweeney (ex-Crystal Ball). Having always planned on working together on a project in one form or another things finally came together in 2009 when Voss was producing the 2nd solo album from Sweeny. After deciding to gather together musicians from all over the world (30 in fact!) Voss and Sweeney took the name of Wolfpakk and away they went never looking back. While the goal was to cater to each vocalist's particular style mostly this album falls into Iced Earth territory. The ten tracks were written by Voss and Sweeney so you can see where a common theme could emerge even with such a wide variety of musicians on board. Alongside the pair you have on vocals: Paul Di'Anno (ex-Iron Maiden), Tony Martin (ex-Black Sabbath), Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, Talisman), Rob Rock (Impelitteri), Mark Boals (ex- Yngwie Malmsteen), Tim "Ripper" Owens (ex-Judas Priest), Paul Shortino (ex-Quiet Riot), Mark Fox (ex-Shakra), Michaela Schober (Tanz der Vampire), Jean-Marc Viller (Callaway), Pearl and Molly Duncan. Quite an interesting cast of characters to be sure. Bass duties were handled by Tony Franklin (ex-Blue Murder, Robert Plant), Mat Sinner (Primal Fear), Matthias Rethmann (ex-LeeZ, Silver), Nils Middelhauve (Xandria), Neil Murray (Whitesnake)and Barend Courbois (Vengeance) while the guitarists (in addition to Voss) were Igor Gianola (U.D.O.), Marco Wriedt (Axxis), Andy Midgeley (Power Quest), Ira Black (ex-Vicious Rumors, Lizzy Borden), Torsten Koehne (Edens Curse), Doc Heyne (Biss), Tommy Denander (Dan Reed, Paul Stanley), Nadja Kossinskaja (Peter Maffay), Freddy Scherer (Gotthard), Olaf Lenk (At Vance) and George Solonos (Tommy Lee). Again an interesting mix although with no line-up listed per song who knows who plays what on which song. The promo dosn't give you that info so while its all good I'm not sure where to give proper dues. Anyway keyboards were handled with ease by Alessandro Delveccio (Glenn Hughes, Ian Paice), Ferdy Doernberg (Axel Rudi Pell, Rough Silk) while drummer Gereon Homann (of Eat the Gun fame) lays down the beat. So, with all that in mind Wolfpakk's debut album is full of great metal numbers like "Dark Horizons", "Lost" and "Slam Down The Hammer". "Let Me Die" and "Ride The Bullet" are just nice slabs of serious hard and heavy classic metal with a wonderful modern touch. Now mind you in no way will I say this album is groundbreaking or brilliant. But considering how these type of collections always seem to turn out a mess Wolfpakk rise above the normal and release a damn fine heavy metal platter.

Mad Max-Interceptor

SPV GmbH
2013

For those of you out there who are not in the know Mad Max, named after one of the greatest "dystopian future" films of all time with Mel Gibson of course playing the title character, Mad Max) , is a German heavy metal band that first came together back in 1981. One year later the group released their full-length debut, "Heavy Metal", and they were originally active between 1981-1989 before taking a 10 year break. By my count this is album number 11 for this Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia band. Now, I actually have the group's first 4 albums on CD and I love each and everyone of them for different reasons. Still, after the group's 4th full-length album, 1987's "Night Of Passion", I lost touch with Mad Max so their more "modern" albums and "modern" sound was a mystery to me as I went to listen to "Interceptor". Up front though I've just got to say how can you not love a band that names itself after one of the coolest cult films of all time, but also names it's new album after Max's own police cruiser! Awesome. Of course the beat-up beast of a truck that is featured in the album art above doesn't look like Max's sweet police cruiser, but that's neither here nor there. On album number eleven it's vocalist/lead guitarist Michael Voss (Wolfpakk, Silver, Demon Drive, Casanova and Bonfire) doing the high-speed pursuit/reckless driving and even after something like 30 years in the business, which is a long time for any band folks, he still sounds pretty freaking good! In fact it's his lead vocals and lead guitar solos that are the highlights of "Interceptor".  The thing is, music-wise at least, the album seems to lack a central theme as it goes from nearly AOR material like "Rock All Your Life" to more "heavier" hard rock moments like "Godzilla" (no, it's not a cover of the B.O.C. classic). That translates into an album that is a bit hit or miss. The opening number, "Save Me", is a surprisingly effective take of groove-heavy rock and features some earthy guitar tones that start things off in grand fashion. The down-side is that from there (or rather after the second cut, "Godzilla", which again is fairly cool) it ends up as one of those albums were it goes up, down, up and down. Still, the positives (including a neat cover of  The Sweet's "Turn It Down" and a heaver, no keys allowed, re-working of the band's rare cut "Show No Mercy") do seem to out weigh the negatives though so that's a check in the positive column. Overall I'm glad that I gave Mad Max a chance with their new music. Is it as good as their early material? In my opinion no. But it's still an album I'd recommend to fans of the group. It might not be as good as it's predecessors and it might come off as a tad uninspired at points, but it's still a solid enough addition to any one's hard rock collection.

Xandria-Sacrificum

Napalm Records
2014

Having checked over my old posts it seems the closet that I have ever come to Germany's Xandria was when I covered Wolfpakk's self-titled album. And that was only because that particular pet project featured Xandria's (now former) bass guitarist, Nils Middelhauve! From the looks of it Xandria has a long list of former members. And with "Sacrificium" this female-fronted symphonic metal act has new members in place so the line-up changes continue. All of which makes it ever more amazing that the group's latest is as sound as it is! That's not to say that I'm suddenly a huge fan of all of this. Symphonic metal has always been a bit hit or miss with me. Still, I'm going to call it as I see it and on "Sacrificium" this band sounds blessed to have tapped a new vocalist like Dianne van Giersbergen (Ex-Libris)! Whether she is a step forward or a step back from what the group had I honestly do not know as this really and truly is my first taste of Xandria. That in and of itself is kind of sad seeing as this outfit has been around (in one form or another) since 1997 when Marco Heubaum (vocals, guitar, keyboards) first assembled the project! Since then the group has released their fair share of demos, singles and even a compilation along with this release, the group's sixth overall full-length studio album! Straight to the point, what I like about this album is how "Sacrificium", despite being awash in symphonic moments, maintains a metal edge. Even if it is a bit too keyboard cluttered for my taste the album has a clear cut appreciation for actual heavy metal and when you combine that with the powerful vocal delivery of Dianne van Giersbergen it ends up being a nice match. What I didn't like about the album (besides the over-use of keyboards) is how it sometimes seemed a bit too fancy for it's own good. It wasn't enough to turn me off, but that (the over-glamorous/glittery nature of such a genre) can be the downside of symphonic metal. Not for all, but when you find yourself sitting on the fence about such a style of metal it can be the deciding deal breaker. If I had to grade it I'd likely toss out a B- or an B+ although I can't quite decide if I'm being too generous or not generous enough? For simplicity sake, symphonic metal aficionados should gel with an album like this one while the traditional heavy metal crowd most likely would have a  momentary shrug of the shoulders followed by a "OK..." response.