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