Doom Metal band WOLF COUNSEL formed in 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland. The band has been very prolific since forming, releasing three albums in three years. The band's interests include spirituality, mysticism, and philosophy, and these things can be reflected in their music and lyrics. "Age of Madness/Reign of Chaos" is their newest release, and contains seven tracks.

"Wolven Earth" is the opening track, at about five-and-a-half minutes. The guitars are fuzzy and the production muted, to create endless grey skies and despair. It's heavy as it should be, lumbering forward steadily with drawn out vocals notes and a riff that carries the weight of the world on its back. "Semper Occultus" is a bit shorter and moves at a mid-tempo pace, sounding like some early BLACK SABBATH who have an ear for music that can be gloomy and somewhat exciting at the same time. The riffs are kept to areas that are easy to assimilate, so you don't have to overthink what you are listening to. Call me crazy, but I also hear some influence of MISFITS here at times as well. The title track is a ten minute opus of hopelessness and despondence. It moves impossibly slow, as you would trying to move stuck in the mud. All around is a barren wasteland. Nothing moves, there is no breeze and no birds in the sky. The sun is choked by a thick hazy smoke that is nauseating every time you take a breath.

"O' Death" features some female vocals which was a nice surprise. A frail female voice can work very well in this style of music and I often wonder why you don't hear more of it. Her vocals are warm which contrasts nicely with the coldness of the guitars and bass. "Eternal Solitude" is a fitting song title for the album. It literally means "being alone forever," and what could be more foreboding than that? When the vocals lines are sung on just one repeated note, that sense of what you would be left to experience after a lobotomy seeps in. "Coffin Nails" leads in with deep bass guitar notes that rattle the earth, and spoken vocals thick with phaser effects. The riff that repeats make your life sound like it is on an endless loop of going nowhere.

"Remembrance" closes the album; a seven-minute track. The vocals drip with tears from a frozen heart that was made from the atrocities of the world; a loss so deep that there is almost nothing left to share with anyone. Overall, I found this plate of Doom Metal to be deliciously malice. The great thing about the medium of music is the emotions it can awaken in you; some good and some bad, but the listener can decide for his/herself each time. I felt desolate and empty after listening to "Age of Madness/Reign of Chaos," so I really think the music had an impact on me, as I am sure it will on you as well.