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Coming from a traditional Scottish musical background, Wolfstone's various members cut their teeth on fast ceildh music a discipline that stood them in good stead for their future incarnation. After well over a decade of making their unique music, the band are still going strong and have come a long way from the village halls of the Scottish Highlands to worldwide festivals with audiences numbering 60000 or more.

The Chase was their second album and contains a blend of music drawn from the essence of Highland music, wild tunes, epic songs, lilting graceful airs and a blend of guitar, fiddle, bagpipes and drums. But this is not straight forward folk music, its probably like nothing you have heard before. The opening song, Tinnie Run, is a tempting insight into their unique creation. Like many of their instrumentals, it is a coupling together of traditional songs, re-vamped standard folk covers and their own creations. Upon hearing the opening guitar passage, you could be forgiven for thinking you are about to be dropped into a 70s heavy metal album, grinding, over driven guitar sets the pace before a crash of pipes and fiddle take up the reigns and create a whirl of rocked out , very Scottish sounding, folk music.

The next two songs highlight the two styles between the two singers on the album. The first, The Glass and the Can, is lead by the deep vocal, of Stuart Eaglesham, a voice that evokes all things Scots. By contrast Ivor Drever has a softer approach that enables the band to explore their mellower side such as on the Prophet and Flames and Hearts. Even when dealing with the more introspective styles the band still manage to create an epic and powerful dynamic, lifting the songs from their most haunting melodies to soar majestically and powerfully.

On many of the instrumental passages, whether solos or whole songs, the power of the electric guitar playing is layered with pipe and fiddle, both of which duel with each other as the songs move through their various phases. In the less rocky moments there is some very intricate and accomplished acoustic guitar playing, from both frontmen.
Close It Down is one of the more straight forward songs on the album, sitting in the territory of the folk balladeer, it is a comment on the decline of Scottish industry. Many of the songs seem to through you a few unexpected surprises. Just when you think you are in the midst of a nice acoustic guitar piece, the pipes kick in like a freight train, not the mournful drone that most people associate with the instrument, but a full on wall of resonance. Similarly we all know what to expect from a violin, but this is fiddle playing, not only that it's Highland fiddle playing, something which seems to defy the speed of sound, something that comes at you with teeth.

Its a real melting pot of references, fans of Runrig and Capercalie will find some similarities here, but the attitude is similar to that of Blyth Power, a mix of folk, metal and punk. So if you like no-holds-barred folk with attitude meets heavy metal then experience the Wolfstone sensation today, just remember to keep a first aid kit handy, someone could get hurt.....

Learn more about this author, Dave Franklin.
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