Many NWOBHM bands were awesome, but didn’t make it far. Wolf (not to be mistaken with an awesome Swedish band that also happens to be called Wolf) is one of those bands who recorded awesome stuff, but never became well-known. Still, that should not prevent us from enjoying those lesser known bands and their albums. Edge of the World is one of such albums. Forgotten gem, like I said in the title? No doubt about it. This album has one similarity to Herman Frank’s Right in the Guts, which I’ve already had a pleasure of reviewing: it’s consistently great. There’s a lot of variety on this album: some songs are fast (Highway Rider, Red Lights), others are slower (A Soul for the Devil), while the title track starts off slow, then morphs into something more upbeat, but every track is worth your time. Whether it’s a riff or a solo, something the singer does or something completely else, each track contains something that draws your attention, so you cannot go wrong with this. Speaking of the singer, he’s one of the best singers I’ve had a pleasure to hear among NWOBHM singers. He has a great voice and he knows how to use it. Production is standard for that time: a bit raw, but that’s what gave many other albums from that time a lot of charm; this album is not an exception. If this album were overpolished like, for instance, Def Leppard, it would be completely ruined. A few tracks do happen to stand out: Highway Rider, that also happened to be released as a single (albeit at the time when the band was called Black Axe); Heaven Will Rock ‘n’ Roll, what happens to be arguably the catchiest track; A Soul for the Devil, that has a prominent atmospheric element. But it would be wrong to ignore the rest of the album: Head Contact has one of the most convincing riffs I’ve heard. All in all, I failed to find any flaw to the album. I’ll keep it short: I sincerely recommend this album and, trust me, you WILL keep returning to it. Like I said, it can be rightfully considered a gem. Not only among NWOBHM albums, but among heavy metal albums in general, or even among music albums per se
