Hungry Hungry Wolves is one of the latest offerings by Wolfmangler, that filthy doom folk project of D. Smolken (Dead Raven Choir). This 7" on the new Short Forest records offers three relatively short tracks that form a nice way to bridge the silence until the coming of the new album on Digitalis.

Personally, I think it's a good thing that the band offers a selection of short tracks on this release. The previous full length, Dwelling in a Dead Raven for the Glory of Crucified Wolves, suffered a bit from repetitiveness here and there, and that is no problem in these compact tracks. They display admirably what the project is all about: acoustic weirdness with a dark and slightly sick touch.

"The Thrill is Gone" is a slow instrumental track, featuring the familiar instrumentation of double bass, violin, flute and skin drum, which reminds the listener quickly of the obscure dirge-like atmosphere of this music. Next up is "Hungarian Hungarian Hippos", which, along with the title of the whole release, should give enough incentive for a quirky exercise in associative thinking. The song itself is quite upbeat, with nice accents on flute, and the raw, black-metalish voice of Smolken. The live setting of these recordings comes forward quite funnily right after the song finishes, when a woman shouts out "alright!". "Attempted Flight Rape" finishes off this single quite darkly, with an emphasis on the heavy drum and double bass sounds, and twisted lyrics.

So, while this is not the most innovative thing that Smolken has put out recently, it will certainly please fans of the Wolfmangler sound, lovers of truly weird acoustic music, and possibly those who have a little nostalgia for the acoustic Dead Raven Choir days, as well.

O.S.