Wolf Spider - "Sense Of Life" track review (request)

link to the video

Ok, I didn't expect another request this year but here we go.

First of all I'm not a thrash metal fan, or a good video reviewer. Having said that, the video shows us the band playing + some woman covered in paint dancing (?). Quite simplistic when it comes to imagery, but I'm unable to find some deeper meaning about it- painted woman has something to do with the sense of life? The zoom on the woman is a bit too much, in my opinion they should show more of her body, not just close ups all the time. Also the cuts are a bit fast, it doesn't really bother the viewer but also doesn't help the video. But let's talk about music.


Well, I heard some other Wolf Spider songs, and I have mixed feelings about them. While they avoid the typical thrash metal vocals style recently (which is good for me as I dislike classic thrash vocals), they try to fit many progressive elements, to the point where melody shifts totally and it's really hard to keep headbanging to the rhythm. And this song shows the worst side of it. Drums jump all around, to the point where we no longer have complex drumming but mostly pure noise. Guitars don't help, with riffing jumping in quality, from rather complex one to really primitive playing. Vocals, while not really thrashy, also shift the style through the song, sometimes it work, sometimes it doesn't, but adds some diversity. But I can't help but think that the vocalist shifting the style all the time doesn't stay as invented in singing as if he could be when sticking to one style, especially when comparing to their promo material "It's Your Time".
His pronunciation didn't really improve, so I still have no idea what's the sense of life.

The worst part of this song is the build, it tries so hard to be progressive, but also to have softer blues elements, but also let's squeeze a guitar solo there, ominous vocals mixed with soft ones and also some sing-along bits for guitarists to shout somewhere in the middle. You know what they say- jack of all trades is a master of none.
Mixing isn't perfect as well, with vocals being too quiet sometimes. Background could also use some more sounds in about 1/3 of this song.

So there you have it, I don't particulary like it, but it's not a torture to watch or listen to. Fans of the band like it, and I guess that's what important, that the band can come back after so many years and still entertain some people.

Score:

Guitars: 6/10
Vocals:  6/10
Bass: do they even have one of those?
Drums: 4+/10

Final score: 54%, only for thrash fans