It was about four years ago when Clawing Into Black Sun was coming out that I stumbled on Wolvhammer. Perhaps it was through Abigail Williams or their split with Krieg they did prior, but I remember buying the album on Bandcamp instantly and being absorbed into the blackness that was the band’s blackened sludge sound. With tasteful songwriting and a unique sound, Wolvhammer was something special I found in my college dorm, and Clawing quickly became an album that I found myself listening to casually, rather in a burst of hype. Flash forward four years and the band has resurfaced with The Monuments of Ash & Bone, and it quickly becomes a matter of whether or not I’d be blinded by nostalgia or be let down because it’s not the same as what I fell in love with four years ago.

Let me get this out of the way first and foremost: Ash & Bone is a well sculpted, smartly written, and blood-chilling album that has been worth the wait. The infectious riffing from their previous release is still there, as well as some new surprises scattered throughout, making the album an aggressively engaging experience from start to finish. While there is undoubtedly a cohesive sound to the album, Wolvhammer have done a solid job at making each track stand out on its own without the album feeling like one long blast beat or down-tempo groove.

There’s no bullshit on “Eternal Rotting Misery,” but it’s by the end of “Call Me Death” that the band seemed to have found a balance between the sounds on Clawing and their second studio album, The Obsidian Plains. It’s a dark affair that compliments itself among the band’s most darkest ventures, but manages to also be a filthy endeavor. Not as vile as, say, Lord Mantis’ Death Mask, but verging on that based on the tone and delivery alone. Everything you need to know about Wolvhammer is essentially summed up in these first two tracks, and much like an overture, you see everything come back to you in some way, shape, or form along the album’s runtime.

Yet the band doesn’t choose to exclusively play it say. A fragment of “Call Me Death” features clean vocals, while the funeral-appropriate closing track “Solace Eclipsed” is practically a dirge to segue the album out in a traditionally gothic fashion for the band. It’s moments like these that push the band’s sound outward and show an extra layer to Wolvhammer that make the songs likeable and venturing away from their safe zone for short periods of time. It is, however, worth noting that “The Failure King” stands as one of, if not, Wolvhammer’s best songs to date. Everything you would expect from the band, everything you want from the band is here, and it’s at their best. This one was the head-turner from me, where it’s still very much apparent the band know how to utilize their core sound to the maximum potential.

Production wise, everything is perfect for the genre. It’s easy to lose yourself in black metal production, let alone something as niche as blackened sludge, but the band have a great team working with them here that makes them the best they’ve ever sounded. While Wolvhammer does sink further into black metal rather than sludge on this release, the production sticks. Early on in the album, however, “Law of the Rope” hits you. To be fair, it’s very much Wolvhammer, but this song doesn’t do anything for me, even with the nicer production and clean editing. Of the seven tracks the band have on display, this one could have been easily cut and left as a B-side for another release; when sized up to the rest, it does little to captivate you.

Gripe aside, as a fan of the band, I am ultimately more than satisfied with The Monuments of Ash & Bone. Wolvhammer and Blood Music are being more than gracious to give the album away for “free,” but in reality this is an album that deserves some kind of donation. While the wait was long, the end result is a well-composed ride through the void that any sensible black metal fan will feel right at home with. Even still, I can see this album being a big one for Wolvhammer in bringing in new fans

The Monument of Ash & Bone is available everywhere now. You can download it on Wolvhammer’s Bandcamp page and stream”Eternal Rotting Misery” below.