Well, as my dear children of the night might have realized I have a thing for band names and album titles. Being really truthful, it is the first thing I pay attention when I receive an album to review. I believe both are the most important thing a band has to pay close attention even before starting writing music or anything else. Ok, then, here we’ve got Wildhunt with “Aletheia.” First of all, the album title “Aletheia” rang a bell. That bell when one recognizes a word, but is not really sure about it. So, I went to look for it. Aletheia (ἀλήθεια) is the Greek word for truth, but it carries a deeper meaning of “unconcealedness, disclosure, or revealing,” stemming from the prefix a- (not) and lethe (forgetting/concealment), literally meaning “un-forgetting” or “that which is not hidden”. It signifies bringing something from hiddenness into the open, a concept explored by Greek philosophers and personified as a Greek goddess of truth. Now, the art cover makes total sense. It is interesting how some bands link everything in their career.
Musicwise, “Aletheia” is a very complex album in terms of music writing and performing. Album first fire “Touching the Ground,” which in fact works as a bridge for the forthcoming “The Holy Pale,” goes in a crescendo that mixes medieval elements with modern features letting the guitars slowly take lead to burst into the aforementioned track “The Holy Pale.” Being totally honest, “The Holy Pale“ stands out from all the album because it delivers a combination of early Testament’s way of performing Thrash Metal with Power Metal. By that track, the fan notices the intense guitars that will fiercely take the lead throught the album. However, track by track, what was a potent mix of early Testament’s way of performing Thrash Metal with Power Metal turned into a surprising and very well-performed Epic Old School Heavy Metal with the flaming and full of finesse guitars I aforementioned. Add to that the emotional voice of Wolfgang Elwitschger which embellishes the songs with its power.
As an album “Aletheia” has that interesting structure of putting small and instrumental tracks in the middle of longer tracks. As a matter of fact, tarcks are pretty long in the album which is the perfect opportunity for guitar duo Wolfgang Elwitschger and Julian Malkmus shows everything they got. And they got a lot. The guitars of tracks as album title “Aletheia“ and grand finale “Sole Voyage” are epic to say the least. A mix of finesse, technique, and aggression. It called my attention the naturality they go through the songs adding riffs, licks, and bridges that sound perfect. Just the way metalheads love.
This is an epic album that most metalheads will enjoy for sure. All tracks are well-planed and performed. Wildhunt are the kind of band that has plenty room to evolve even more in terms of musicianship and songwriting.
Wildhunt “Aletheia” was released on January 02nd via Jawbreaker Records.
Track Listing:
- Touching the Ground
- The Holy Pale
- Made Man
- Kanashibari
- In Frozen Dreams
- Aletheia
- Sole Voyage
Watch “Aletheia” official visualizer here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!