Pernurium's Review of Howling Lament

An interesting demo of a United States Band from California arrived in my hands, well actually at my computer. The first impression of Wolfgate’s demo is Death-Black Technical Metal with a refined sound and keyboards that attract attention, much like Cradle of Filth, Catamentia, and Graeworm.

All in the band are joined by the same passion for music. Wolfate comprises of Dommiel on guitars and keyboards, Sloarch on guitars, vocals, and keyboards, Lord Mattias on battery and vocals, and Magus Demericus in bass. I should say that the band has a Chilean member in their ranks, Dommiel to who I should thank for sending me this pleasantly surprising and high-quality band demo.

The 2008 demo called “Howling Lament” is composed of five tracks and an intro. The first song track, “Ancient Dominion”, which besides having some intense riffs, has some very baroque keyboards that offer a dark and gloomy themed atmosphere. The vocal record of the vocalists is admirable with the guttural voice intermingling with the choirs that sound like Vintersorg, which change tones and shades.

The third track “Invocations of the Gate of Nergal” continues with the devastation after a well developed intro to go on to a more intense section, where the emphasis is on the battery and the drumroll. This continues on to a slower tempo, which breaks suddenly with the intense riffs of the guitars.

As to the fourth track, “Eternal Night Sky”, it is an intense theme from beginning to the end.

It is also good to mention that the sound of this demo is of great quality, being able to compare to best bands in this category. It is a well developed work full of details in the voices, keyboards, and also drums and guitars. I invite those interested to listen to their themes on their MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/wolfgate and to leave them comments, since I sincerely believe that this band will give all a lot about which to speak.

The track list of the demo is as follows:

Intro - Despero Illarum
Ancient Dominion
Invocation of the Gate of Nergal
Eternal Night Sky
Incest’s Maternal Gifts
Offerings of Blood

The demo around 32 minutes is highly recommended for those that like black melodic metal. In Wolfgate you will find a band of quality and with new ideas, very intense and very dark atmospheres.