RAGE AND FIRE was formed in Lisbon, Portugal, during 2021 by Mário Figueira (guitars) and Rick Thor (bass and vocals) who played together in RAVENSIRE until the band broke up in 2020. RAGE AND FIRE caught the attention of the underground metal scene and started recording for their debut full-length album "The Last Wolf" which was completed and released June 2, 2023. Drawing inspiration for the lyrics of the song "Black Wind" are by the novel "The Hour of the Dragon" by Robert E. Howard, and the lyrics of "The Last Wolf" are directly adapted from the poem "Un lobo" by Jorge Luis Borges. I had some difficulty finding out information on this band through all my usual searches and their Facebook page didn't offer up too much either other than they are recommended for fans of IRONSWORD, RAVENSIRE, MANILLA ROAD, HYBORIAN STEEL, TALES OF MEDUSA, even RUNNING WILD.
I really like to be more familiar with the band and their musical history before I delve into a review, but I'm going into this one a little blind knowing not much more than they like to read.

Opening up with a furor on "Rage and Fire" storms out of the gates with a pure headbanging, rocking riff as the headstrong gritty vocals take control with demonic, raw tone sounding like MANOWAR, a brief but cool guitar solo gives me much hope moving forward. Grooving riffs lead us into "20^th Century Man" with a tad more deepened, gravely vocal layering that paint a desperate picture for mankind: An hourglass running out of sand, we drove the fast lane, the riders chasing death, the end was sure to come at last, a strength of mind, a strength of will. As edgy as the first two tracks were, they lost all momentum with the next three "Shapeshifter"
"The Summoning" and "Tell The Tales (of Medusa)" as they were all dragged out and mundane, with very little diversity, they sounded like one very, very long song, the vocals were dissonant and lacking feeling, they felt like a desolate, tormented soul crying out. "Black Wind" based on "The Hour of the Dragon, starts out with strong ripping riffs, almost a JUDAS PRIEST vibe with  angry, intense vocals delivered with an evil galloping melodic and heavier approach, brought to a roaring finish by the cryptic lyrics: Fallen the horsemen lie, their broken lances still, the lost black gods have spoken, surrender to their will, hands turned upwards, dead, under the starry sky, for this is the Dragon's hour, and the time has come to die. Ending with the album's longest song, the title track "The Last Wolf" is again a slower paced, sludgy tempo but does bring in the best guitar work with nice whipping licks,

Unfortunately, of the eight songs on "The Last Wolf", there just was no diversity, most tracks all merged together. I know this is a dark and devilish themed album concept, but it was lacking punch, direction or innovation. It did start out pretty promising and I felt this album needed more than one listen before I pulled out my "sad face" review pen, so I gave it several chances, but the overall outcome remained status quo.