The Wolf

While Wolf was formed in Sweden in the mid-'90s, listening to their music might convince metal fans that they were some lost band from the glory days of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Clearly indebted to the sound and style of bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Diamond Head, Wolf's brand of metal is taut, speedy, aggressive, and full of dexterous dueling guitar work, with songs that are unafraid to sound epic and howling vocals from frontman Niklas Stålvind (aka Niklas Olsson). Their self-titled debut effort, first released in 1999, saw them displaying inspiration and te...