BEAR MACE

BEAR MACE     “Slaves Of The Wolf”

By Dr. Abner Mality

It’s been a while since I’ve heard from these Chicago bruisers. And while “Slaves To The Wolf” stays true to their blunt and direct attack inspired by the likes of MASSACRE, early DEATH and BOLT THROWER, it’s fair to say that the band has matured somewhat as well. Their early works were as raw as you could get, sounding a lot like fellow Chi-town warriors CIANIDE. This new record sees them cleaned up and streamlined quite a bit over those earlier works.

Now don’t panic, because this is still hard-charging battle metal with brute force riffs and angry growls. It’s just that things are clearer and sharper this time around. There’s been a big advance in the guitar solos here and you can hear that in just about any song but particularly in the likes of “Heretics Burn” and “Prophecy”. It’s no longer just noisy squeals, but something more akin to classic metal. In my opinion, that only helps BEAR MACE in the long run.

The album notably picks up steam as it cruises along. First two tracks, the title track and “Worthless Lives”, are good but the really outstanding stuff is found in the back half, starting with “Captured and Consumed” and ending with “Cancerous Winds”. These songs are all musical bulldozers with great riff work and serious death metal power. This is worth seeking if you like straightforward meat and potatoes DM.

BEAR MACE