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ROADWOLF
Midnight Lightning

Napalm (2023)
Rating: 9/10

I don’t seem to stumble across many Austrian metal bands so it’s nice to experience the second full-length album from Roadwolf. These dudes began life over a decade ago so it’s rather surprising that their debut album, Unchain The Wolf, didn’t emerge until 2021.

What you get here is a rather infectious and nostalgic trip into the late 80s and early 90s circa a collection of sleaze-tinged tunes that bring to mind any number of bands ranging from AC/DC, D.A.D., Guns N’ Roses, Scorpions and the more obscure War Babies. It’s catchy stuff indeed, driven by a thunderous bass but more so the gravelled vocals of Franz “Franky” Bauer.

Interestingly, as each track swaggers by you get a strong air of familiarity but can’t help nodding along. The brilliant title track is a smoking example of what this band so effortlessly creates. Throughout this opus there is that driving metal aesthetic, but one cannot overlook the grit which brings to mind a band like Spread Eagle who straddled the line of inventive sleaze and rugged metal.

Roadwolf has found the perfect blend to produce such riveting metal. The enigmatic ‘Supernatural’ has a late 70s vibe, but elsewhere the band conjures so many sweet, melodic riffs alongside a more traditional and robust gallop such as on ‘High Under Pressure’ with its Iron Maiden-esque thunder. Meanwhile, ‘Don’t Deliver Us From Evil’ shows the band as a darker force as they construct the perfect throwback anthem to a time when us kids were so desperate (naive) to join Satan’s legion. And yet through all its obvious power, Midnight Lightning is somehow caramel to the ears; a fluid and smooth transitioning through styles, but all condensed into a fiery, no-shits-given heavy rock arrogance. I’m hooked.

Neil Arnold

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