{"id":49517,"date":"2015-05-26T16:26:42","date_gmt":"2015-05-26T21:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=49517"},"modified":"2015-05-26T16:26:42","modified_gmt":"2015-05-26T21:26:42","slug":"wolfpakk-rise-of-the-animal-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/wolfpakk-rise-of-the-animal-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolfpakk | Rise of the Animal<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist\/News Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Wolfpakk\"German Melodic Metal collaboration Wolfpakk returned this year with a new album, their third to date, titled Rise of the Animal<\/em>. Wolfpakk is, of course, the project put together by vocalists Michael Voss (Mad Max, Casanova) and Mark Sweeney (ex-Crystal Ball) that features a rotating cast of guest vocalists and musicians. To say that they\u2019ve assembled an all-star cast this time around is an understatement.<\/p>\n

For Rise of the Animal<\/em>, Voss and Sweeney are joined by guest vocalists Michael Kiske (Unisonic, ex-Helloween), Andi Deris (Helloween, ex-Pink Cream 69), Ted Poley (ex-Danger Danger), Joe Lynn Turner (ex-Rainbow, ex-Deep Purple), Rick Altzi (Masterplan, Thunderstone), David Reece (Bonfire, ex-Accept), Charlie Huhn (Victory), Don Dokken (Dokken), Marc Storace (Krokus), Michaela Schorer and Jean-Marc Viller (Daydreamer).<\/p>\n

Musicians on this effort include bassists Bob Daisley (ex-Ozzy Osbourne), Al Barrow (Magnum) and Barend Courbois (Blind Guardian, Vengeance), guitarists Jeff Watson (Night Ranger), Ryan Roxie (Alice Cooper), Bernie Torme, John Norum (Europe), Doug Aldrich (ex-Whitesnake, Burning Rain), Axel Rudi Pell and Martin Rauber, keyboardist Chris Ivo (ex-Jaded Heart) and drummers Mike Terrana (ex-Rage, Axel Rudi Pell), Mark Schulman (Cher, ex-Foreigner), Simon Philips (Toto) and Chris Slade (AC\/DC, ex-Asia).<\/p>\n

Now that\u2019s a lot of talent, but all the guest stars in the world won\u2019t save an album if the songs aren\u2019t good. Fortunately Voss and Sweeney prove yet again to be up to the task, delivering eleven very solid songs that are very much in the German melodic metal formula. The songs on Rise of the Animal<\/em> would not be out of place on the average Jaded Heart, Bonfire, Mad Max or Masterplan album. They\u2019re hard rocking, very melodic, and all have just enough of a metal edge. <\/p>\n

Of the guest singers, it\u2019s Rick Altzi, Andi Deris and David Reece who stand out the most, and Michael Kiske\u2019s performance on the title track is very old-school Helloween, but it\u2019s Voss who really shines throughout the album. If there\u2019s a downside, it\u2019s that Rise of the Animal<\/em> is a pretty unsurprising and formulaic album, and even that is unlikely to disappoint most fans. By now you know what to expect from a Wolfpakk album, and you know you\u2019re going to get it.<\/p>\n

They may not be breaking any new ground here, but if you\u2019re a fan of the European Melodic Metal sound or any of the players involved, you\u2019re going to want to hear this. Just having this many Melodic Rock and Metal stars in one place makes Rise of the Animal an album that\u2019s impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n

Genre: Heavy Metal, Melodic Metal<\/p>\n

Lineup:
\nMark Sweeney (v)
\nMichael Voss (v) (g)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tRider of the Storm
\n2.\tSock It To Me
\n3.\tMonkey On Your Back
\n4.\tHighlands
\n5.\tBlack Wolf
\n6.\tSomewhere Beyond
\n7.\tRunning Out of Time
\n8.\tGrizzly Man
\n9.\tHigh Roller
\n10.\tRise of the Animal
\n11.\tUniverse<\/p>\n

Label: AFM Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.wolfpakk.net<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 7.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist\/News Editor — German Melodic Metal collaboration Wolfpakk returned this year with a new album, their third to date, titled Rise of the Animal. Wolfpakk is, of course, the project […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":49518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[8645,2317,2491,3439,11261,11260],"class_list":{"0":"post-49517","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-afm-records","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-heavy-metal","11":"tag-melodic-metal","12":"tag-rise-of-the-animal","13":"tag-wolfpakk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}