Cygnus Rock Band - Fenrir the Wolf (Revival)

I remember, when I listened to this song for the very first time, the intro brought tears to my eyes. Good, old, killer technical thrash metal! It hit me right in the stomach.

I swear to you all, this is one of the best feelings ever. Yeah, sex is good, but have you ever felt the power of a well-placed thrash metal riff on your eardrums and your groints at the same time?

Pure anti-stress, anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, all in one. No need for therapy or expensive medicines. Cygnus Rock Band serves it all to you, right there, intravenously, intra-auditory-meatus-ly.

I'm sure, they made it the good old way. They brought out the huge barrels from the depths of the studio. Yes, those ones from Chernobyl. Those that are full of material from Reactor no. 4. They rubbed it all over the walls and the floors, they soaked the instruments, even the studio technology into it. Deneb took out that small pocket from the Hidden Place where he keeps those boar fangs and bristles from the forests of Pripyat. 

I think it's his secret what he actually does with them, but the result speaks for itself: his bass gruntles deeply and aggressively, just like a flock of bewildered boars on enriched uranium. As for Ruxx, he definitely uses some secret substance or agent as well for his drumsticks to be able to throw thunderbolts with them every time he plays the drums.

This means that way before the song would bite off your face, the radiation is already over 2 Cygnus/hour.

In case you missed out the brand new discovery of nuclear physics, here's the scientific article about it.

Imagine: you get your dose of nuclear activity AND you find yourself smashed onto the wall. The plasterwork is slowly falling down to the floor, while you just grin with the facial expression of a radioactive Chesire Cat and you feel happy.

And the song has just started!

You just pick up your pieces after the heavy encounter with the wall when you get the intro. The ruthlessly rumbling guitar is supported by the rhythm section; the bass and the drums together march through you like a massive AT-AT stomping you into the ground.

And you feel happy.

Ruxx is singing the song and he is the best choice definitely. Not only because his sharp, rock-soaked voice is perfect for these thrash-speed metal influenced songs of Cygnus, but also because he has that kind - and that amount - of evilness in his voice which is required for songs like that to be spotlessly authentic.

(On a less circumstancial way, Ruxx has a special sense for such brutal songs to sing.)

I especially love 

feel free to stone me, we are talking about my favorite instrument

how in the first stanza it's only the bass and the drums that keep on with the humane voice.

This is plain aggressivity. Raw, brutal, and just the way I love it. Tight, grooving rhythm section with powerful drums and radioactive bass. That kind which punches you first on your throat, then on your stomach, then on your groints, and finally it kicks you out.

And you're happy!

This is that song which makes the fans jump and scream on gigs. Perfect for mosh pit or even for wall of death.

It makes a soft transition through a bridge. It's nothing but Deneb's distantly echoing voice

it reminds me a bit of how he sung in Lady Hél

just to crash into the chorus with full power.

This that kind of chorus that makes the audience sing like a wolf choir. When the singer holds the microphone over the fans with a wide grin and the army is singing their hearts out.

(Yes, I want will be there!)

This chorus is divine. Period.

Literally!

The second stanza is even more powerful than the first. The very massive, throbbing rhythm section now is joined by the guitar, adding one more evil layer to Ruxx's overworldly singing, slowly grabbing (and demanding) power next to the gruntling bass and the very dynamic, complex drums. After this Deneb's voice in the bridge is even more eerie, and then the chorus hits with full force.

Then comes the solo and it's not only the guitar that tears off the listener's head

and you're happy!

but if you listen to it with ears and heart open wide enough, you will realize that the rhythm section continue to walk over you, now bringing the entire horde of AT-AT's. Listen to the drums, listen to the bass, hear the complexity of the rhythms they play and hear the guitar faithfully following them while slowly squeezing your eardrums out of your auditory meatus.

Just my opinion, but this is one of the most complex solos on the album. Each and every musician that took part in it deserves a big hug. Wonderfully made, wonderfully composed and played, every beat, every tune is precisely at its place, and most of all, it's complex. And nuclear.

Interesting that this song barely includes symphonic elements and it adds a lot to the brutality and rawness of it. Only the intro (and the instrumental bridges) include a tiny piccolo and here, at the end of the solo the orchestra appears, but only to just show itself. This small amount is precisely measured, just to emphasize the guitars and the rhythm section.

That one single violin after the solo though is definitely a winner. As eerie and distant as Deneb's voice, but this time it will give you cold shivers on the backbone.

The mighty, beautiful chorus returns one more time, then in the outro the orchestra takes it over from the piccolo, giving the song the cathartic point.

And now hear what Ruxx and Deneb have to tell you about this song:

@cygnusofficial "Fenrir, the wolf" #viking #vikingmetal #celtic #celticmusic #vikings #lagertha #ragnar #bjorn #norse #nordic #norseman #VALHALLA #Valkyrie #shieldmaiden #vikingtattoo #skjaldmo #norsewitch #fenrir ♬ sonido original - Cygnusofficial

The song itself, for you, to put it on loop.

You're welcome.