Ulvehunger – Retaliation

Ulvehunger, which is Norwegian for ‘Wolves Hunger’ was originally envisioned as a continuation of the band Balvaz, a Death Metal act – Albeit with somewhat of a twist, namely a substantial amount of Black Metal added to the mix. And while I cannot find any online sources as to when this particular incarnation of the band came to fruition, judging by the musical styles present throughout Retaliation, their Debut (and so far only) album, combined with the fact that their prior project was officially disbanded in the early nineties, I will go out on a limb and assume that Ulvehunger can celebrate close to a thirty year anniversary soon. And while this isn’t officially stated anywhere (as mentioned above), it is somewhat made at the very least plausible when delving deeper into the other and former projects of the four band members which comes with an impressive pedigree including Satyricon, Celtic Frost, Braindead, 1349, Gorgoroth and Keep Of Kalessin, to name a few – And, looking at it written down as such, the decision to make the band a Death/Black Metal act appears to have been a natural evolution the experience of its members taken into consideration. 

Musically, Retaliation represents that very rare tight-rope of managing to balance the mixture of these two quite different but equally culturally unique genres in a manner that does not cause one to dominate the other while at the same time making it new enough for it to merely drown out in the miasma of what, in my opinion at least, is a heavily oversaturated genre. Nevertheless, they pull it off quite succinctly, with the ten tracks spread across forty-two minutes painting a very strong picture of why one should never underestimate the sheer tenacity of the Norwegians. 

The music is relentless, gritty and dirty, with each flailing chord echoing throughout the entirety of the album, only to either be joined, or drowned out by, another, equally gravelling note. The Punk roots of early Black Metal is on full display all throughout, as is the simplistic aggression of the contemporary Death Metal – All in all a recommendation from me, for any fans of Black/Death Metal. 

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