When I first started writing for Metal Temple, one of the two first promos I received was from a French band. Since then I've very rarely got anything from France. Really is baffling why as I liked the promo I reviewed from that French band. I still maintain that Sweden is the best country for European music but I'm always open for hearing music from other European countries and their bands as I have heard some good ones.

Today's review will focus on a new Heavy Metal album from a French band called LONEWOLF and it's been a while since I've listened to and reviewed anything from a French band. The new album in question is called "Cult of Steel" which is out now on Massacre Records.

The album features 10 new tracks and the digipak edition of the album comes with 2 bonus tracks which are re-records of older LONEWOLF songs with the first being the title track from the 2008 album of the same name which is "Made In Hell" and the second is from their 2002 release "March into the Arena"

Formed in 1992, LONEWOLF are a 4-piece Heavy Metal band from the Claix, Rhône-Alpes region of France. They did record and release a few demos but they split in 1996. An album was recorded but it was never released and it was never heard and it still remains that way to this day. In 2000, they reformed, recorded and released their debut album in 2002 which was called "March into the Arena" and since then they have released an additional 6 albums with their newer album "Cult of Steel" counting as one of those 6 making their total number of studio albums 7.

So what do we get here? The recipe for a Heavy Metal album is fairly straightforward so let's see if this album has that. Heavy guitars: check, pounding drums: check, insane bass riffs: check, fast guitar solos: check, heavy vocals with some growling in there: check and lastly clear quality in the Production check.

All the criteria for this particular album have been met so does that mean it's a good album? Well actually it is. It's heavy just like a Metal album should be with some hard-core guitar riffs and some pretty insane solos. The drums are also heavy too with some pretty speedy double bass drumming on a few songs.

As for the vocals, they're actually pretty good too. I mean sure they are a bit too growly for the most part and occasionally it can be a bit hit and miss but I will say that it's good for the most part and you can actually hear the words underneath the growling unlike other bands who fall for the trap of making the words unheard when they growl thus ruining the performance somewhat but rather gladly that's not the case here.

Standout tracks? Hard to pick one really as each one is pretty good for what this album is including the opening title track "Cult of Steel", "Werewolf Rebellion", "Hells Legacy", "Force to Fight" and "Grey Wolves" to name but a few.

Time now for that verdict. As mentioned at the start of the review, I very rarely get anything from a French band but the ones I do get are actually not too bad as they are quite enjoyable and that's the same for LONEWOLF as I actually quite enjoyed this album despite any issues I may have addressed but you know, that's not really anything worth worrying about as it's a very enjoyable album.<