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  WOLVERINE : "COLD LIGHT OF MONDAY" (2003)

Label: Elitist/Earache

Tracklist:

  1. Dawn (2:30)
  2. Sarah (4:31)
  3. New Best Friends (6:14)
  4. Tight Rope (4:59)
  5. Carousel (07:51)
  6. Trust (2:52)
  7. Pantomine (5:07)
  8. Red Canvas (2:11)
  9. Dusk (2:00)
  10. Tied With Sin (6:06)
  11. The Final Redemption (7:20)

Musicians:

  • Stefan Zell. vocals
  • Mikael Zell. guitars
  • Per Broddesson. guitars
  • Thomas Jansson. bass
  • Marcus Losbjer drums
  • Andreas Baglien. keyboards

After the classic prog-metal of their previous album, the Swedishes Wolverine move away from Dream Theater and company with this new and surprising "Cold Light of Monday".

It is not fair to file this album under prog-metal, only because there's a little metal here, with some hard guitars. The new effort by Wolverine is slightly more personal, a dark and melancholy album, very atmospheric, that, could be related to Pain of Salvation, "Damnation's" Opeth , Anathema or Green Carnation, and even Porcupine Tree, among othe rbands. It is an excellent album, very emotive, sounding up-to date and surprising. Nothing related to what I was hoping to hear after having listened to their previous effort, "The Window Purpose".

It is remarkable the feeling of the excellent vocalist Stefan Zell. Maybe he is not the owner of a very powerful voice, but in my opinion, he is currently one of the most expressive vocalists of prog rock. And what about the music? So it approaches much more to contemporary prog rock than to metal, as can be demonstrated by the abundant keyboard atmospheres, synthesizers, pianos, mellotrons, melodic guitar solos, and quietness parts that are scattered over the whole album.

Songs as "Sarah", "New Best Friends", "Carousel", "Trust", "Pantomime", "Tied With Sin" or "The Final Redemption", have a lot of feeling, with great moments of maximum instrumental exquisiteness.

Inserted between the main tracks, short instrumental interludes are included. Very varied ones with sonorities as industrial rock, ambient, percussion rhythms, etc., giving cohesion to this conceptual work in a very effective fashion. Slightly similar to what Tool made in their masterpiece "Aenima", though in Wolverine case, interludes are more influent pieces in work's final result.

An excellent album that meant for Wolverine what "Remedy Lane" did for Pain of Salvation in 2002. By far, the best ever made by Wolverine for my taste, and one of the recommended works of the year, which already has been strongly ovationed in the different prog sites.

Rating: 8.5/10

Ferran Lizana

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