Style: Melodic death metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: Finnish heritage, winter, powerful fucking riffs
Thoughts: It's hard for me to think of a band that has better start's to their albums than Wolfheart. No matter what album it is, the opening track (or tracks in this case) just kick my ass to oblivion. Long story short, Wolfheart knows exactly how to write good intros and opening tracks. Tyhjyys is no different.
How do all of the best melodic death metal albums start? With an acoustic guitar intro of course. Tyhjyys follows that strong tradition. The acoustic portion is only to start though as the instrumental builds to incorporate a "hey!" chant and a furious melodic lead before fading into Boneyard. This is where the band shows their true colors.
The thing I love about Wolfheart is that they don't forget about the death metal portion of the music. Boneyard screams in with a blast beat and a riff that is designed to rip my fucking face off... but melodically. So it's catchy while I'm being torn asunder.
The death metal goes further than just the music though, the vocals are easily within the "true" death metal category. There is none of this winy half harsh vocals that so many other bands showcase these days in a weak attempt to be aggressive. This is real aggression... but with melody.
That's how so much of Tyhjyys can be described. It's a beast of an album, but it's also catchy as all get out. The band goes through these eight tracks in very much the same manner. Kick ass riffs, soaring melodic leads that get stuck in my head for days, majestic keyboards that only add to the wall of sound, vocals that bellow from the depths of hell. All wrapped up in a wonderful package that is designed to beat me into submission.
If there is one knock on Wolfheart it's the lack of variety in their sound. All of the tracks, while good all sound similar in execution. This is hardly a bad thing as the band knows not to overstay their welcome. Eight tracks, forty five minutes... just about the perfect album length - and just enough to fit snugly onto a single LP.
Written December 21st 2023
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