Fifth full-length for Fabio Paulinelli, who does everything in the studio as Grey Wolf. I liked his last album quite well, but this one is not quite hitting the spot for me. Part of it is the production, which seems a little overdone. The guitars and the drums sound over-digitized, and the vocals are layered up in a way that makes them sound artificial while not really improving them. There are some killer songs on here, like the rocking "Gladiators," and none of the songs are bad—not even the weird one about Wuthering Heights, which sticks out thematically like a plaid thumb. But overall, this is so by-the-numbers it sounds indistinguishable from past albums, while sounding a little bit worse in the recording department. Fans of old Grey Wolf albums, as well as fans of Manowar or Ironsword, will still find a lot to like here.
