By: Wolfchant

Release Date: February 13, 2026

Format used: Digital

Rating: 3.5/5

There are many words you could use to describe Wolfchant’s latest album. Epic, melodic and catchy are three. Shiny, overproduced, and bombastic are three others. Nay, Orcus the Vile has never particularly gravitated towards Wolfchant. To be sure, they’ve written some amazing albums. Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands stirred Orcus to furore. And I have rallied my hordes to songs off A Pagan Storm. It’s simply that the early material – while good – did not have the staying power of other bands. And their newer releases are real crowd pleasers in the same way that Powerwolf’s releases are.

Especially on this album we have some real catchy poetry. “Dem Sturme Vorause” is just real treat isn’t it? Just makes you want to belt that Germanic opera right at the top of your lungs until your gut collapses inwards and gives you a forced gastric bypass (what do you mean that doesn’t happen? I’ve gotten a hernia that way in 1906!).

Honestly, the second half of the album really makes the rest of it worth the effort in terms of raw aggression and evil undertones. I just don’t know why we preface it with all these shiny symphonies and electronic tomfoolery. I hope Wolfchant doesn’t think their audience would lack the attention span to stay throughout the entire album. Because that would be too cynical – and I am saying that as a notorious eater of cynics (and they did taste like dogs in the olden days).

Yet while the second half of the album is still more presentable and sounds less like a weird Power Metal-Melodeath fusion, Wolfchant still doesn’t offer us anything less shiny – and their addiction to symphony orchestras makes us wonder why they didn’t just get a full-time quartet to beef up their admittedly impressive keyboard plinking.

That’s Echoes of a Time Long Past. In terms of symphonic metal and melodeath you can do worse, but you can also do much better. And while I will definitely revisit some tracks in the future, this album will most likely fail to make a long-term impression. Either that or it will become a slow-burn guilty pleasure that takes time to sink in. Only time will tell if this album becomes a mere echo of a time long past.