When regarding to a veteran act, it is hard to claim that the ship had sailed, left the shores and bound never to return. I believe that when it comes to the French LONEWOLF, consistency is the key to survival. Even though it can also be argued, yet it is not the time or place to do as such. Not long after their previous tryout in the Viking realm with an album titled "The Heathen Dawn", the foursome crew went back to the drawing board, didn't wait long, and came up with a return to the forging of Metal, issuing their ninth album, "Raised On Metal", once via Massacre Records. Conviction isn't a quality to be toyed with, it takes a lot from a person, and this unified group of seasoned musicians once again put the pedal to the Metal, delivering a decisive thrust of steel in the same manner as the early gods of the genre, keeping it as true as possible without looking sideways for extra elements. However, it is viable to predict that at least sometimes, these extra aspects might be able to prolong the spirit of the music, therefore, turning a blind eye might not be such a recommended idea.

Generally, "Raised On Metal" is an energetic and hearty Speed Metal, a combination of the 80s and early 90s efforts, influenced mainly by LONEWOLF's RUNNING WILD unholy addiction along with a few other examples of both the German and British Metal settings. Since the band has been keeping its songwriting style rather consistent over the years, don't expect anything out of the ordinary, needless to say a whole lot of freshness as "Raised On Metal" pretty much conveys the same imagery and preaching. On the other hand, it also features an impressive quality melodic sagacity, depicting twin guitar harmonies of the highest order and classic generated soloing efforts, determined rhythm guitar riffing that is majorly Teutonic Metal infested that really pumped things up and a solid steel rhythm section that only an old school band could ordain. Production wise, I could have used a better mix for this album. "The Heathen Dawn" wasn't really my cup of tea when it came down to the studio work, yet "Raised On Metal" turned things around a bit. It could have been better with the mix of the vocal line though.

The album's songwriting, as mentioned, is true to the old school form and the band's maintained heritage. It holds nothing back, yet not letting anything else in. The self-titled track, "Raised On Metal", retraces the steps of "Masquerade" and "Black Hand Inn" RUNNING WILD eras, a period where the music gotten a bit more technical. For LONEWOLF this number became one of the album's pillars, a so-called motivational melodic Speed Metal crusher that shows plenty signs of devoted worship to the good old past. "Skinless Smile" is certainly one of the better melodic and remarkably energetic inputs that this album has to show for. It shares impressively written melodic riffs and licks, proving that the RUNNING WILD legacy is worth following but not copying. "Souls Of Black" takes a slightly different turn from the RUNNING WILD angle that is a commonplace, deploying chunky Heavy Metal crucible, walking and walk and talking the German talk riff based piercer with an ample melodic directive. "Swansong" and "Demon's Call" will urge you to have the limited edition version of the album, two solid tracks that should have been a part of the original song list instead of other tunes that could have been chopped off. The former being a slow tempo RUNNING WILD driven of the 00s periods, true Teutonic feel and compelling simply written riffing and the latter being an IRON MAIDEN inspired, of the early 80s mostly, quite of a nifty tune, channeling melodic vision with a rigorous German speed orientation.

I guess that LONEWOLF will always be one of these bands that it would be rather easy to predict what you will get. They largely discard any means to implement new ideas to make their music fresh, merely following their favored gods and reliving moments that some probably forgot. "Raised On Metal" is of no exception, a solid Metal work that would ignite the old flame and will keep you in line if you are a trend follower.