Wolf: The Black Flame - 2006
Wolf are pretty much the greatest NWOBHM band that ever came out of Sweden in the mid-nineties. They worship at the altar of early Maiden and Grim Reaper and care not for the the decades since. They obviously don't take themselves too seriously with songs about demons, murderers, black magic, and even one about a drunk driving teenage girl on a horrific path of death and destruction gloriously titled "Steel-Winged Savage Reaper", but retro though they may be these are no self-consciously ironic hipsters or thrash revival cretins. They approach their music with a passion that can't be faked and that transcends the silliness.
It might actually be argued that they don't quite belong here. Even if they're not particularly original they are a well-oiled machine that bleeds energy and riffs like a stuck pig. Their singer is none-more NWOBHM but his soaring vocals that can take on an aggressive bite (though never a growl or a scream) at a moment's notice exude a charisma that set Wolf head-and-shoulders above the competition. And the old school low browness can't hide a surprising grasp of subtlety, songcraft, and drama that brings alive songs that might otherwise be dismissed as merely disposable pap. In fact at times they can slow down their rapid-fire assault just a tad and channel an eerie theatricality that reveals a heavy Merciful Fate influence that they pull off like it was easy. Even the singer's style is indebted to King Diamond.
But any class is always secondary to the cheesey fun. These guys seek no awards and no accolades. The first thing on their agenda is to kick ass and the last is to take some names. Bitchin'.