Review by Felix on December 27, 2021.

Many great albums trigger emotions just by their name. “At War With Satan”, “Ride The Lightning” or “Piece Of Mind”, to name but a few. Other releases miss this chance and have names like WW… What the hell – of course, we know what is meant and the artwork does not try to hide the topic of the album. Either way, Gehenna chose a pretty stupid title for their fifth full-length. Maybe they knew that their reputation had been heavily damaged due to the weak and uninspired Murder album and so they put the focus on the music exclusively?

Well, the material was better than that of their worst full-length, but it also left room for improvement and lacked the eerie atmosphere of their first releases. That’s the misfortune of WW – it does not reflect any sign of the original DNA of Gehenna. On the other hand, if we try to see this album that stands on its own feet, without band history and further non-musical aspects, one can enjoy the songs to a certain degree. Okay, the opener fails to spark emotions due to the lifeless drumming and the uninspired ending of the track also sucks. But this under-average appearance remains an exception. As the record progresses, things are getting better. There are dark riffs, the double bass increases the dynamic and intensity of the songs and the vocals are monotonous but powerful and hostile at the same time. The pieces do not lack substance and it is not only the sinister closer that convinces due to its expressive guitar lines. Already track no. 2, 'Death To Them All' offers mature guitar lines and highly intensive sequences. 'Silence Of The Earth' with its ominous guitar lines and death-announcing keyboards also leaves its footprints and the same can be said about 'Werewolf', inter alia due to its pronounced main riff at the beginning of the song.

Production-wise, the album can rely on a fundamental heaviness. Drums, guitars and vocals are well balanced. The only major flaw is, as indicated above, that the sound does not reflect the spirit of black metal. WW shows a rather sober approach – here we are, we play music, nothing else, and we do not care about emotions. But in my humble opinion, doing the main tasks of the job is okay, but sometimes not enough, at least not enough to reach the highest regions of the rating scale. And so it is an album that does not annoy, but it is no album you need to listen to again and again. Without connections to the great era of the band, WW appears like an orphan and we know that unfortunately orphans often have to struggle in order to find their place. I cannot say that I have found an adequate one for Gehenna’s work, although I like it to a certain degree.

Rating: 7.2 out of 10