Artist: Wulfgraf
Country: USA
Label: Temple Fan Wolven
Formats: Digital Demo
Year: 2025
Wulfgraf’s name is one of those that I had written down quite a few times on many of those little papers laying here next to my laptop. Yet, those “stuff-to-write-about”-lists are now as long as the Nile, or, since the band is from Wisconsin: as long as the Mississippi. But despite the fact that by now I missed out on reviewing eight previous releases, that void now comes to an end with the latest demo from this one-man band.
‘Spirit Of The Moon’ is the first sign of life for Wulfgraf in two years and is again presented in digital form by Temple Fan Wolven, what I assume if the musician’s own imprint. For that matter, the man in question, who makes himself known under the pseudonym Black Wolf, is also active in quite a few other bands including Ald, Cyhiraeth, Forest Tomb, Myrkraldr, Stolzblut, Vexhamren and Yek. None of those have really managed to garner any underground fame yet, and it remains to be seen if that will happen with Wulfgraf. That, by the way, is not entirely due to the quality Black Wolf offers.
On ‘Spirit Of The Moon’ we are presented with some 16+ minutes of decent cold and raw Black Metal. It is clear that Black Wolf masters his instruments well, on many occasions you can hear that he is more than the average bedroom Black Metalist, especially in the drum fills and the transitions. Yet, the thing most catches the ear is the interesting use of the bass-guitar, although it is definitely no Necromantia or Barathrum, the low-rumblings of this instrument does give the music a noticeable extra dimension and overall depth. However, the issue with this ninth release of Wulfgraf is that besides the rawness and the cold nature of the music, it has very little soul and it makes your attention wane all the time. While there is plenty of depth in the music instrumentally, there is virtually none on the emotional level of the songs. And that, ironically, is the very foundation of the Black Metal genre. Instead basically all songs on this 5-tracker are rather generic and it will be hard to both remember and recognize anything of this after it’s done playing.
Wulfgraf might not have been featured on these pages before, I did listen to a good amount of the previous releases, but now that I have fully emerged myself in this EP I now understand why the older demos and EP’s never made the cut.
It might sound a little harsh, but with an eye on Black Wolf’s many musical activities it might be an idea to lower the output and concentrate on just one or two bands instead of a whole bunch. I have said this over and over again, but in this case, judging from the musical capabilities of Black Wolf, I really think the music would benefit from a more strict focus.
