COLD LIGHT OF MONDAY

A good band with a wrong name IMHO. When I first heard of Wolverine, I thought it was an another Black Metal band from the north, but I was wrong, there is almost no heavy guitar in this album. I know that they started their career with a heavier sound, but for any excuse this name doesn't suit band's sound in any way.

I know the band can do really well compositions but I think the order of the songs in this album is wrong. The first two songs are really slow motion and you can't get into it really easy. Once you are in it, the song called Tightrope, actually it is not a song I would call it as "noise" takes all your concentration away. For God's sake the next song Carousel is a good one and it is the first time you hear overdriven guitars. Trust and Pandomime are similar songs and they are really good worth listening to many times. Then comes another "noise" called Red Canvas. I am asking again and again, why they are doing this to themselves? Red Canvas and Tightrope are not even music, they sound like random noise which can just be a sabotage. The next song called Tied With Sin is perhaps one of the best songs in this album and the last song called "The Final Redemption" is a perfect final to the album.

Overall quality of music is good but the engineering is sometimes weak(IMHO). The bass guitar is almost absent in the album, he almost does nothing but following the guitar. No special effort from the bass. I would give 4 stars if there were no songs called Tightrope and Red Canvas, but it would be more fair to rate it as 3 stars.

This is a concept album about a woman(Sarah) who is being abused by the man she's in love with.These songs are really her thoughts and memories as she looks back over that part of her life that is now thankfully over. In the liner notes there are pictures with the lyrics that help relate the story. This is an emotional, sad, graphic but in the end triumphant story about a brave lady. The music doesn't vary a lot and is naturally dark considering the story line. Very powerful at times. Not much in the way of solos either. The songs often blend together as well.

"Dawn" opens the story with the picture of Sarah sitting on the floor crying in pain both physical and emotional. How did it come to this ? The music features processed vocals with humming sounds in the background before synth-like sounds come in then reserved vocals. Sarah opens with drums and vocals.Very mellow until a full sound arrives after a minute. This sounds great ! Keys come in and join this dark but uplifting track. It blends into "New Best Friends" which is probably my favourite song. Dark synths, keys, drums then vocals lead the way. Sad guitar come in before 1 1/2 minutes that reminds me of OPETH's Damnation record. Excellent guitar solo a minute later. It becomes more powerful later on. "Tightrope" features repetitive industrial sounds that end 1 1/2 minutes in.The rest of the song is filled with sampled bits. Quite experimental this one. "Carousel" opens with drums, keys and vocals. I like it. Heaviness arrives before a minute. Even heavier a couple of minutes later. A spacey section 4 minutes in followed quickly by more heaviness. The sound to end it is fantastic ! Very cool track. "Trust" is really a ballad of piano and fragile vocals. A spacey section 2 minutes in followed by some tasteful guitar. "Pantomine" has such a nice solid sound to it with vocals. The tempo picks up after 2 minutes with a ripping guitar solo before 3 minutes.

"Red Canvas" consists of percussion and drums throughout. "Dusk" is a 2 minute track of an ominous and dark atmosphere with sinister vocals.The song kicks in 1 1/2 minutes in to the end. The photo for this song is very much like the one for "Dawn" as it pictures her suffering alone. "Tied With Sin" is a great heavy track with passionate vocals. Some tasteful guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. Nice. More heaviness follows. "The Final Redemption" opens with guitar that has a tone that I just love. Piano plays along. It's getting heavy. Amazing sound. Vocals before 2 minutes as it settles down. It's heavy again before 3 minutes as contrast continues. It ends with a vocal line being repeated over and over."Losing you was to be my final redemption". The picture for this song is of Sarah standing by the train tracks looking healed and moving on to a better life.

I had to keep listening to this not knowing if it was worth 4 stars or not. It took time to sink in and appreciate the subtle variety.