The latest album from French metal band Existance is called ‘Wolf Attack’. When I got the email to review it, the title alone was enough for me to click the link. To top it off, there’s an awesome picture of a wolf in a moonlit graveyard on the cover! Metal as fuck!

You have a good idea what the band will sound like just from the imagery, think Maiden, Priest, Queensryche with a splash of Helloween and you’re pretty much there. The picture of the band on the album could be a band from the NWOBHM era. Leather, chains, and the odd bandana thrown in for effect…

Duelling guitars, soaring vocals, pummelling drums and great production make for a great listen. A thoroughly enjoyable slab of trad metal with tracks like ‘Highgate Vampire’, ‘Power of the Gods’ and the title track being highlights. The guys are great musicians and vocalist/guitarist Julian Izard pulls of a magnificent performance, his voice is powerful, and he hits those high notes with ease. The rest of the band are no slouches either with some Malmsteen inspired solos from Antoine Poiret.

‘Wolf Attack’ is a solid effort from start to finish, fans of trad metal fans have plenty to get their teeth into here, and it has my favourite album title of the year so far!

Beware the moon!

Author: Kenny Kendrick