Finnish Death Metal band WOLFHEART released their newest album "Shadow World" early in 2015. The gloomy, ice-obsessed rockers released their first album, "Winterborn" in 2013 after front-man Tuomas Saukkonen dropped his previous solo-projects. He recruited his band of winter-soldiers and they have immediately got busy, hidden deep in their Arctic-fortress (or studio, probably) to bring the world their second gloomy, frosty release.

WOLFHEART's "Shadow World" shares the same energy and destructive sound of the band's first album although "Shadow World" seems to focus more on the more relaxed, subtle and haunting aspects of WOLFHEART's influences, particularly in the Doom department. The entire album carries a solemn vibe, not quite hopeless or depressing, more reminiscent of isolation or internal struggle. The permafrost-covered aesthetic of the album carries a sense of forlorn desolation, but at the same time finding the courage in the face of said desolation. Like the kind of feeling you would get if you were fighting a Snow Troll in the mountains. Tough, trying, a task that seems helpless, but you have an indomitable will and a +4 flaming great-axe.

I am hesitant to call WOLFHEART Fantasy Metal, but when half of your songs sound like something The Night Watch from Game of Thrones would be interested in, the description is a pretty good fit. Many bands that fit within "traditional" Fantasy and Epic Metal have a cleaner style both vocally and musically. WOLFHEART introduces a more Doom laden Black Metal sound. The lyrics may be a bit more poetic and ominous and the album packs a more harsh drive but the imagery and musical beauty of the Fantasy genre are still very much present. "Shadow World" is a great album for fans of Melodic Doom metal and Epic metal alike, WOLFHEART provides perfect balance between soft and pretty and in-your-face brutality. "Shadow World" is the perfect soundtrack for the harsh but beautiful snowy winter nights that are fast approaching (well, north of the equator anyway...).