WOLFCHANT — Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands (2013) (review)

WOLFCHANT — Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands (2013) album cover

Promos, fans club and other releases (no bootlegs) · 2013 · Folk Metal

4/5 · 2014-05-23
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(This review was originally written as an add-on to my Embraced by Fire review and should be read in context with that; I have split the review on MMA due to the decision to give releases like Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands 2013 their own entry. You can read the Embraced by Fire half of the review here: http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/review/embraced-by-fire/282191)

For once though, this review doesn’t end there. After all, we still have a whole other disc to go: Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands 2013. As fate would have it, Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands is the only one out of the four prior Wolfchant full-lengths that I’m not fully familiar with. The most evident difference of course would be that Nortwin didn’t join the band until Call of the Black Winds (though he did guest on Determined Damnation) so his vocals take over some of the parts from Lokhi.

Recording albums is a classic fan-base dividing move if ever there was one. While fans that only got into them with Call of the Black Winds and Nortwin’s addition to the line-up will probably like the new Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands more than the original, if Nortwin’s addition wasn’t something to celebrate for you (?) then the new version may come across as a pointless exercise. And then there are fans like myself, who have enjoyed both the old and the new Wolfchant. To us, the prospect of such a reimagining of an earlier album when the band has evolved so much is interesting to say the least. And as I said in the review for Embraced by Fire above, Nortwin is such a commanding presence in the band that the end result can only be superior to the original album right?

Well as I said, I don’t actually know the original Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands, but I have heard a few songs in my time. Stylistically I always had the impression the album was very similar to its successor, A Pagan Storm, which is an album I do know very well. Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands 2013 indeed does hint a lot more at this sort of sound than Embraced by Fire itself does, but I also detect elements similar to the new Wolfchant, such as power metal elements but unlike Embraced by Fire Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands 2013 still sounds like much more the folk/black metal release. Vocally it’s more Call of the Black Winds though, with Lokhi once again coming across as Nortwin’s equal rather than playing second fiddle to him.

Fortunately though due to not being familiar with the original I have the benefit of being able to take in and rate Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands 2013 from a perspective free of prejudice and even expectations. Since these songs are older despite being brought up to date I do think it easy to hear how much Wolfchant have improved as a band compositionally. While there are highlights to be found, such as Clan of Cross and Mourning Red, much of the album comes across as being merely solid material, and if I were listening to this version of the album as their debut back in 2005 when the original was released I’d probably have thought it was the sort of album that would be hinting at better things to come from future albums. And since those future albums would have included Embraced by Fire and Call of the Black Winds, I’d have been right. Despite this being a rerecorded version the impact of the music invokes the same feelings albeit obviously without those thoughts of better things to come, as those better things are already here.

Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands 2013 was an interesting experience. I expect that should I go back now and hear the original I’d probably still prefer this version since Nortwin is on this one, and he’s a personal favourite of metal vocalists of mine. Perhaps conversely, seeing as I love the original, I’d like to hear what Wolfchant would come up with if they gave the same treatment to A Pagan Storm. For Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands 2013 a great album tier rating is deserved.

82/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/wolfchant-embraced-by-fire-t2827.html))