All of you NWOBHM nostalgic rockers out there, something (less wicked) your way comes. WARWOLF claim to be a veteran outfit based in Cologne. If they were so successful with their old band why did they have to change their name? Well that is none of our concern. The album at hand is "Necropolis". City of the dead it is and there's no joke there. That's probably one of the only thing they got right.

Dusted riffs and tasteless guitar tones rule over this recording. Not what you expect to hear nowadays. The production sounds pretty cheap and can't help songs like "Nosferatu" that have a one of the good choruses on this record. We empathize with the bass player that is struggling to replicate the bass sound and technique of Steve Harris from IRON MAIDEN, but when they start their title track "Necropolis" and the main riff hits you as being a rip off from "Sign of the Cross", you end up having to pity for WARWOLF. You realize it's just a fan boy (if you can still call these elderly men boys) band. Nothing bad for a pub band or a performance at a small festival. That's where it stops.

"Clan of the Undead" is trying to bring some life into this album and "When the Hangman Cries" seems to succeed at it. Too bad the riffs sound unprofessional and the guitar leads pretty immature. The track mixing of this recording will get your ears very tired and even though the vocals have a lot of power, they sink in the swamp. For sure there will be those that still are reminiscent of this wave will find it in their hearts to embrace this album. It seems like it's in their DNA to love these stereotypes. "Witches" has the classic feel of the genre, but is followed by the closing song "The Priest", an 8 minute long song that's everything but exciting. And so the heavy metal saga ends rather poorly.

Not necessarily a bad record, but "Necropolis" doesn't prove anything. I guess if you are a BLAZE BAYLEY fan, you will dig it, but it's just another heavy metal album out there. Unfortunately nothing sticks out to give it some shine. Very outdated for 2022. Something that reminds you of the heavy metal scene over 20 years ago and even back then it wasn't that appealing. Give it a spin but don't expect it to spin you!