Another summer has passed and yet again its farewell present for many Europeans meant death, loss and misery. After seemingly endless heat waves, droughts, forest fires and alarming signs of water scarcity, the partially charred Edenic beauty of Southern Europe has been drowned in water, suffocated in mud and debris. It’s a price we pay but for what? For our obsessive adherence to economic systems that make our own gravestone spiral down into a scarred planet. “Humans are pretty shit as far as nature goes. We’ve taken this wonderful resource – that is the planet we live on – and just ruined it”, as Con Doyle, singer and writer of the Irish/Swiss/German classic doom metal band WOLF COUNSEL, puts it. And with the band’s latest video single Healer, which was filmed and edited in the rural areas of County Cork, Ireland, a ton of frustration, anger and fear has been sent through their mill of doom: “Healer is kind of a warning: If we don’t come back and listen to the planet, we’re gonna fuck it up even further. But the song also touches on the whole aspect of capitalism and commercialism, of losing the old ways of the healers. Their ability to create and heal was rooted deeply in extending nature into mankind instead of opposing the natural environment that they lived in, unlike we’re doing today. We either go back to treating the planet with care or the planet will treat us without, simple as that!”

So again, the season that we all used to love and yearn for has turned into nothing but a reoccurring, short-lived antediluvian period, a biblical extreme turned reality. But what can we do? Make use of the short break that lies ahead – the fall, winter and spring. Do the doom thing: Slow down and go out, wander through nature and take it in. Think about your own life, question your false needs while you’re out and bring the conclusions back home to your loved ones. Healer is a great soundtrack for you doing that!

About Wolf Counsel and Initivm

Wolf Counsel came into existence in 2014, when two veteran musicians merged their enthusiasm for monumentally slow, low-tuned music and great appreciation of ponderous bass lines into a new band. Primarily rooted in the style of late 70s and 80s prototype doom metal, their sound quickly developed a very unique and heavy signature, drawing in influences from everything that’s heavy and slow. The band members themselves name a few bands as their musical inspiration such as Solitude Aeturnus and Cathedral; fans of Count Raven and especially Warning should definitely risk an ear, too!

In 2020, one of the two founding members moved to Ireland, which led to a nouveau and close creative collaboration with the new Irish frontman Con Doyle. Wolf Counsel now lives on with the addition of new influences, a new voice and new inspiration to deliver more pure doom metal with an even heavier and more epic approach on Initivm than ever before.

As the album Initivm was written during the lockdown, fans are probably eager to see what was created behind closed doors. Live shows are definitely what everyone is waiting for – and Wolf Counsel promise to give a stripped down, true old school metal show. They don’t want any nonsense nor artificial images and no compromises. The band has played gigs all across Europe with bands like Procession (SE/CI), Epitaph (IT), The Order of Israfel (SE), Castle SF (US), Year of the Goat (SE), Obelyskkh (DE), Orange Goblin (UK), Dead Witches (UK), Iron Void (UK) and Ahab (DE) and will hopefully add new dates to their route very soon – because those songs just need to be heard live. They have the power to provide a mass catharsis for everyone attending.

Initivm by Wolf Counsel is released today on September 30th, 2022.

Tracklist:

01. Healer 
02. Torchbearer
03. Ruins
04. Aeons
05. The Old Ways
06. Initivm
07. Raven Dawn
08. On Stranger Shores
09. Farewell

LIMITED Digipak CD incl. download: https://www.wolfcounsel.net/product/815407

In recent times, everyone has wandered dark paths – death, doom and misery have no longer been exclusive to occult spheres and mythical surroundings, they have become a part of everyone’s reality. The more present strong and negatively connotated emotions are, the more important it is to canalize them – and let something powerful rise out of the ruins and shattered pieces of one’s mind.

The multinational band WOLF COUNSEL, based in the  gloomy and ever tales-enriching heights of Ireland, are about to channel their anger and troubled senses on their 5th full-length album Initivm, garnished with heavy riffs and diversely vigorous vocals. They have definitely devoted their hearts and souls to give their fans yet again a true masterpiece of haunting harmonies and complex arrangements.

Wolf Counsel came into existence in 2014, when two veteran musicians merged their enthusiasm for monumental low-tuned music and great appreciation of ponderous bass lines into a new band. Primarily rooted in the style of late 70s and 80s prototype doom metal, their sound quickly developed a very unique and heavy signature, drawing in influences from everything that’s heavy and slow. The band members themselves name a few bands as their musical inspiration such as Solitude, Aeturnus and Cathedral.

In 2020, one of the two founding members moved to Ireland, which led to a nouveau and close creative collaboration with the new frontman Con Doyle. Wolf Counsel now lives on with the addition of new influences, a new voice and new inspiration to deliver more pure doom metal with an even heavier and more epic approach than ever before.

As the band thrives to go deep while still lyrically playing with the topic of death and mythical stories of days long gone, this approach heavily reflects on the album’s first single Farewell. When it comes to explaining the story behind the song more closely, bassist and backing vocalist Ralf W. Garcia, who is also the main songwriter, comments:
“The song is about dying and how in certain ways we live through other people’s memories. It’s important to come to terms that none of this is permanent and everyone is going to die and it’s okay for people to move on.”

As the album was written during the lockdown, the fans are probably eager to see what was created behind closed doors. Live shows are definitely what everyone is waiting for – and Wolf Counsel promise to give a stripped down, true old school metal show. They don’t want any nonsense nor artificial images and no compromises. The band has played gigs all across Europe with bands like Procession (SE/CI), Epitaph (IT), The Order of Israfel (SE), Castle SF (US), Year of the Goat (SE), Obelyskkh (DE), Orange Goblin (UK), Dead Witches (UK), Iron Void (UK) and Ahab (DE) and will hopefully add new dates to their route very soon – because those songs just need to be heard live. They have the power to provide a mass catharsis for everyone attending.

Initivm by Wolf Counsel will be released on September 30th, 2022; available on their website.

Tracklist

1. Healer
2. Torchbearer
3. Ruins
4. Aeons
5. The Old Ways
6. Initivm
7. Raven Dawn
8. On Stranger Shores
9. Farewell