There’s a very particular smell that comes with true old-school Black Metal. It’s the stench of burning incense, corpse paint, mildew, and unwashed leather — the scent of the early ‘90s when every riff felt like a heretical act and every blast beat was a middle finger aimed straight at heaven. Unleash the Beast, the debut EP from Cult of Wolves, captures that smell perfectly — bottled, corked, and thrown straight into your face with gleeful fury.
This is the work of one man — Shadowsoul — and Hail Satan, does he get it. The guy doesn’t just play old-school Black Metal; he bleeds it. Everything about Unleash the Beast screams of that early second-wave ethos: the raw, necrotic production, the relentless tremolo riffing, the hellish bark of vocals that sound like they were recorded in a snow-covered crypt under the light of a dying moon. It’s unpolished, it’s furious, and it’s fucking glorious.
The EP opens with a near two minute intro — and before you say it, yes, I fucking hate intros too — but somehow Shadowsoul manages to make even that worthwhile. It doesn’t feel like filler; it feels like a cursed invocation, a warning to brace yourself before the maelstrom. And when that maelstrom hits on track two – The Cult of Wolves – it’s everything I want from a record that proudly wears its love for the early ‘90s on its bloodied sleeve.
From there, Unleash the Beast becomes a full-throttle homage to the likes of Darkthrone, Immortal, Mayhem, and Enthroned, while never feeling like a carbon copy. Shadowsoul brings enough personal genius to make it his own, his riffs drenched in frostbite and filth, the drumming tight enough to drive the chaos forward without ever losing that raw, primitive edge – even if this is the only thing Shadowsoul doesn’t do on this record. There’s no pretension here — no modern atmospheric fluff, no post-whatever bullshit — just cold, raging, Lucifer-praising Black Metal played the way it was always meant to be played: with conviction and hate.
What I love most about Unleash the Beast is that it’s not about reinvention, it’s about spirit. That untamed, snarling spirit that refuses to die, no matter how many times people declare the scene “dead.” This is Black Metal with its teeth bared, dripping with nostalgia yet still vital and alive, ready to chew your eyes out of their sockets.
By the time the last note fades into the ether, you’re left staring at the wall, half-expecting a goat-headed demon to crawl out of your speakers and demand you flip the record over and play it again. And honestly? You’ll fucking want to.
Unleash The Beast is available from the Cult of Wolves Bandcamp page.
CHOICE CUT: Delving Into The Unknown
BLACK METAL ARCHIVES VERDICT: Raw, feral, and true to the frozen roots of the ‘90s, Unleash the Beast by Cult of Wolves is a furious howl from the shadows — an invocation of Lucifer’s glory and a bloodstained reminder that Old School Black Metal never fucking died.
