After coming off the solid and powerful album, Evil Star, the modern day heroes of classic heavy metal, WOLF, return with another stellar effort. For the uninitiated, Sweden’s WOLF conjure up the spirit and sounds of late 70’s/early 80’s heavy metal (PRIEST, MAIDEN, MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND, and nice slab of New Wave of British Heavy Metal) into a charismatic and enthusiastic presentation. The Black Flame embodies the important factors that makes classic metal such powerful music - poignant riffs, the memorable songs, the dual guitars, solid musicianship, and most important, soul. Lyrically, vocalist/guitarist Niklas Stalvind traverses such classic themes as graveyards, black magic, demons, and vampires. The first three-fourths of The Black Flame leans more towards songs with bigger, more memorable choruses and “anthemic” material in general. Once the seventh song, “The Dead,” kicks in with a wicked PRIEST-like riff, the album takes on a whole new demeanor. The songs become leaner, meaner, faster, and possess this awesome sense of urgency. As a result, The Black Flame finishes with a great sense of momentum leaving the best impression possible. WOLF have created another solid and strong album and it seems that there’s no stopping them. Make no mistake, WOLF are one of the best bands in the underground. Posers, piss off! (Prosthetic Records)