Trollheart

Well, we've had a band who were big in the NWOBHM but not hugely instrumental, and who are still going today (albeit almost a totally different band now), and we've had one of the stalwarts, gods and driving forces of that movement, who inspired many of today's bigger metal acts, and who are also still going as I write. Now, I'd like you to think about the little guy: those bands who never made it, due to various circumstances, many of which were not of their making, and who, while others surfed the powerful waves of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, were dragged under and fought to gain the surface, but never did, their purple faces and eventually fish-chewed bodies left to rot on the ocean floor.

Okay, enough maritime imagery. We're talking about a band who began life as Leviathan, but had little success with that, and changed their name to Black Axe. Good name, you would think, for a metal band, and indeed they did quite well with a single they recorded called “Highway Rider”. But for reasons best known only to them, the record label they were with at the time encouraged them to change their name. “Wolf”, they no doubt grinned, fanning themselves with a cheque-book and puffing on a big cigar. “That sounds MUCH more metal! Stick with us, guys, and we'll make you stars.”

Sadly, after turning out one album, the newly-branded Wolf sank without a trace. This could be due to the fact that there was at the time another band in the UK called Wolf, and people may have been getting confused. In an era where the internet had still to make its bid for global domination over our music, it wasn't quite that you could input “Wolf” into YouTube and get the wrong result (though of course you can now, and there are about six bands with that name at this time), but although they were based hundreds of miles away (these guys in Newcastle while their namesakes were in Cheshire), it could still happen that you could decide to go to a Wolf gig and end up watching the wrong band! Not great publicity, especially if you ended up not liking the “other” Wolf. Not to mention the headaches this would have given rock magazine writers and radio DJs.

But at any rate, Wolf did release one album which has apparently (though this is my first time to listen to it) gone down as one of the classiest in the era, and is still hailed today as a “forgotten gem of the NWOBHM”. It's just a pity they listened to their label, because according to my sources, with the obvious talent like you hear on this album, had they retained the name Black Axe (or even changed it to something less confusing) they could have been huge. As it is, we're left with just this one album to remember them by.

Edge of the World - Wolf - 1984 (Mausoleum)


Rather appropriate, sadly, that this album should be released by a label whose name is synonymous with crypts, death, corpses and mourning, as it was buried before it was even recorded. The “flash of genius” the label had, to change the band's name, proved their undoing and indeed, the nail in their coffin. Okay, that's enough death imagery now, I think!

You can indeed hear the class oozing out of this album from the very beginning, with the squeals and cries of the opening guitar lines, then it breaks into a proper riff for the title track, and there's certainly no doubting the power and quality of vocalist Chris English's delivery, although the production is a little tinny; then again, with this album so rare, it's possible I've just got a badly-recorded copy. “Edge of the World” is very catchy and memorable, full of hooks, with some very solid drumming and great guitar work, though a lot of the time (a lot of the time? You've listened halfway through one track!) it seems to be threatening to verge over to AOR territory, more like Praying Mantis's third and fourth albums really. Great music though.

They've thoughtfully included a version of “Highway Rider”, the track they recorded and found semi-fame with as Black Axe, which is a nice touch, and it shows a more rocky/metal side of Wolf than I found on the title track. Whether it's re-recorded for this album or the original song I don't know, but it's followed by “Heaven Will Rock and Roll”, with a nice uptempo boogie feel to it, the guitarists let loose, while “A Soul for the Devil” dallies - albeit very briefly and with tongue firmly in cheek - in the sort of territory more usually frequented by the likes of Demon or Venom, then “Head Contact (Rock and Roll)” is another decent rocker, with some damn fine guitar work.

“Rest in Peace” does precisely the opposite, rocking along at a decent pace with a very catchy hook and a blistering guitar solo, then “Too Close for Comfort” is, well, too close for comfort to the old Lizzy standard, “Don't Believe a Word”. I wonder... There's a small hint of early Tygers in there too (hah! Tygers and Wolves!), circa Wild Cat, and in fairness the song does soon change and establish its own identity, but the prevailing riff running through it is still very reminiscent of that old classic. Unfortunately it all sort of falls apart then with “Red Lights”, a sub-Di'anno-Maiden-era song, the kind of thing that makes “Running free” seem well-written and played. Yeah, that bad. Just by-the-numbers metal, and although competently played, nothing special. Low point of the album.

It closes then on “Medicine Man”, which kind of puts me in mind of Glass Tiger, though with a bit more bite, though only a bit. The keys come a little more to the fore here, lending the song a more commercial sound, and certainly softening the metal into pretty generic AOR. A strong closer? Not really, but then in fairness this is not really that strong an album, in my opinion.

TRACK LISTING

1. Edge of the World
2. Highway Rider
3. Heaven Will Rock and Roll
4. Shock Treatment
5. A Soul for the Devil
6. Head Contact (Rock and Roll)
7. Rest in Peace
8. Too Close for Comfort
9. Red Lights
10. Medicine Man

I have to say, having listened to this album for the first time I really don't see what all the fuss is about. Forgotten classic? Buried gem? Crème de la crème, as one reviewer rather grandly put it, of the NWOBHM? Nah, I do not see it. This album is mediocre. It's okay in parts, starts well but pretty soon dips and never really recovers, and it's not really any surprise that they never recorded another one. Even the so-called “headed for the big time” single doesn't impress me. I seriously don't get it. I would listen to this once and never again, and feel no loss for that. As far as I'm concerned, the world of the NWOBHM was a heavy metal jungle out there, and to survive you had to be tough, and one of the best at your craft.

To me, Wolf came across as little more than cubs, and the jungle is very unforgiving with the young, the weak and the lame. Oh god, I have to say it: it's a dog eat dog world out there! Sorry, sorry...

Don't expect the next episode anytime soon, but when I do get back to this I'll be looking at the contribution made by Diamond Head, Irish lads Sweet Savage and one of the only all-girl metal bands to come out of that era, Girlschool. Till then, play it loud! Er, unless the neighbour's baby is trying to sleep, or that MASSIVE guy two doors down is on nights. In which case, use your headphones...

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018