If you followed Finnish metal musician Tuomas Saukkonen, a few years back he announced ending all his projects which included his work in bands such as Before the Dawn, Black Sun Aeon, Routasielu, Dawn of Solace and Final Harvest. His departure left fans shocked but a new path was beginning to be written, and thus Wolfheart was born. Winterborn is the debut album which released in 2013, and proves to an epic, but importantly an energetic melodic death metal album.

Winterborn begins very calmly in the opening track The Hunt with delicate and beautiful acoustic guitars. The song opens to a larger, more ambitious atmosphere, and delves into a faster more ferocious sound. Guitars can be mean and very melodic in tracks like Strength and Valour, but other tracks like Routa Pt.2 become more symphonic. This is by far the best song found on the album, pounding an extremely catchy and viciously melodic guitar lick, but remaining focused on its epic voyage.

Songs can emit a powerful force, like Gale of Winter, and another favorite of mine Ghost of Karelia which discharges a mightily heavy tone. Whiteout is another track that contains a heavily enforced attitude. It may be one of the slowest songs in the bunch, but it still packs a great melodic punch like many of the songs successfully pull off.

Winterborn is a good start for Tuomas Saukkonen’s project Wolfheart. While some songs may be more polished than others, it is a solid melodic journey from start to finish and satisfying enough to retake the path more than just once.