Featuring members of J.D. Overdrive, Furia and Thaw, Mentor have adopted the Motorhead philosophy of music-making, with each track playing out like a snatch ‘n’ grab. Short, hard and fast these missives may be, but where the Motorhead comparison really takes hold is in the sheer glee with which the Polish four-piece tear into each of the tracks here. Perhaps it’s because Mentor offers these four lunatics a chance to play, free from the constraints of their day job but, whatever the reason, there’s no doubting the malevolent joy that lies at the core of each of these nine tales of terror. With a fantastically weighty mix from Haldor Grunberg (Satanic Audio) and typically evocative, horror-themed art from Branca Studio, Wolves, Wraiths and Witches is fast, furious fun. Read on and enter the darkness.
There’s no prelude, no fancy little overture and no bloody warning when you put Wolves, Wraiths & Witches into the player. Instead, the album grabs you, like the nasty little Rottweiler that it is, and tears huge bloody chunks out with the splenetic fury of Equal In The Fire. Not even three minutes in length, it’s a ferocious, thrash-tastic outpouring that sounds like the members of Exodus having a collective seizure. Next up, Satan’s Snake Handlers offers more of the same – a riff so dirty you’ll need a shower, high octane vocals and undisputed attitude are the order of the day here. Whack up the volume and you’ll either head-bang ‘till you drop or engage in a bout of frenzied air guitar (note to self, don’t listen to this at work anymore); at any event, music this vital demands a physical response – you have been warned. With a cheeky nod to Gremlins, Fed After Midnight adopts a blackened punk approach, Raum Chord’s guitar buried under a wall of distortion, providing the perfect backdrop for King of Nothing’s increasingly frantic tales of horror. Opening on the sort of hulking riff that suggests a lifetime of Sabbath worship, The Great Grave In The Sky is a stabbing thrash nightmare caught in a whirlwind between Gojira and Sepultura in the chain of inspiration. Finally, the first half sees a darker, harder approach take hold as Leviathan’s Punch unleashes a crushing wave of percussive brutality that leads into the deathly Creature Feature. A satisfyingly heavy piece, it ups the ante considerably, ensuring that the album continues to keep the listener hooked.
The ghost of Lemmy looms large over the bass-heavy Dance Of The Dead, a track that sees Gusion’s Drone lead the way into a hyper-speed blast of thrash-n-roll that goes down as smooth as Jack ‘n’ Coke. Churning bass also leads the way into mid-tempo bruiser Blood Is Love and, like the horror villain who calmly walks after his victims no matter how fast they run, it feels all the more threatening for its measured pace. The pace picks up on A Night So Grim, another track with a taut Exodus vibe, before the grittier Sealed In A Tomb brings things to a frantic finish, complete with overtones of Autopsy. Arguably the album’s heaviest track, it provides the album with a raucous close, just in time for the listener to collapse into a sweaty heap.
For those looking for a sinus-clearing blast of death-infused thrash, Mentor are on hand with a maniacal grin and a knife behind the back. Played with panache, Wolves, Wraiths and Witches is one of those albums that sounds like it was a huge amount of fun to make, and there’s a sense of excitement in the performance that is quite impossible to fake. Very much an album that’s content to nod towards its influences, Wolves, Wraiths and Witches may not reinvent the wheel, but damn, it’s a huge amount of fun, making you want to mosh around the living room. So, what are you waiting for? Grab the album, grab a beer and some mates and play it until the neighbours’ ears bleed! 8.5/10
