WOLF BLOOD's latest release, "Wolf Blood II," is flat out stunning. When you listen to this album for the first time, do so with a system that can handle some heavy, heavy db. And plan on a good 80 minutes of uninterrupted time. The album clocks in at about 40 minutes, but you're going to be playing it at least twice. What's in a name? If we were to play metal band name bingo and you had the words wolf, black, goat, and blood on your card, you would be thrown out of the parlor for being a bingo shark. WOLF BLOOD combines two of the most archetypal names in metal. They have to be awesome by virtue of their name. Spoiler alert-they are. It's like heavy metal astronomy, it's written in the stars.

This Doom metal band hails from Duluth, Minnesota. Their first album, self-titled, came out in 2014; they released a single, "Tsunami/Home," in 2018; and in May 2019, the oceans surged, Cthulhu stirred, and this monolith of an album cracked the world. The first track, "Lesion," opens with an unsettling string of riffs. Just as you adjust your bearings, the bottom drops out with a massively immersive bass line. Paulsrud (drummer) then pounds in percussive beats that will threaten to fracture your molars, and, finally, the vocals of Mindy Johnson (guitars/vocals) float in-vocals that are so clean, so haunting, so right that you may wet yourself. Now mix up the vocals, the tempo, the lyrics, and repeat for five more tracks. That's the entire album. Doom gold.

Here are a few things that make this album unique for me. One: The vocals-and not just Johnson, but all the vocals-are remarkable. From the deeply layered harmonies to the guttural ravings, you just don't hear this level of balance and sophistication often. Two: Paulsrud's work on drums is riveting. Whether he's maintaining a bluesy rhythm in "Story of a Drowning Man," or splitting mountains in "Slaughterhouse," this man is a monster, of the very talented vein. I could also go on about Johnson's and Messina's guitar work as well as the skills of Rucinski on bass, but we do have word count limits and my panegyric (word of the day) vocab is just about tapped out.

Tracks that stand out above all the tracks that already stand out are "Lesion," "Slaughterhouse," "Kumate," and "Tsunami." Downsides? You may end up dropping some unexpected cash to buy WOLF BLOOD's two earlier works and probably a new set of headphones-you know, the ones that go to 11.