Band:	2 Wolves
Album:	Gentlemen, Please
Style:	Industrial metal, Symphonic metal
Release date:	2011

01. Star Is Your Name
02. Metropolis Metro
03. Distant Tanker
04. Melodies For The Rainy Periods
05. The Answer Is Nо
06. Immortal Man And The Statue
07. 3 Tickets To The Masquerade
08. Empty

If you, for some reason, wanted to read about this band before checking out the review, you'd be completely confused, since they don't appear to have an official website, Metal Archives doesn't note their existence, their Facebook page is almost entirely in Finnish and MySpace is pretty void of updates. So you will just have to trust me for all the information you need - a reviewer's dream! A "buahaha" would be in order now, but since I'm a professional, I won't do that. Except I totally just did.

In case you plan on checking out Gentlemen, Please, keep in mind that the music you're about to indulge yourself in is written and performed by two people - Niko has control of the rhythm section and Aleksi is responsible for everything else. 2 Wolves claim to be an industrial symphonic metal band, so I thought listening to this will inevitably be a chore, as (attempted) orchestral stuff makes me yawn and industrial music leaves me cold and indifferent. But this wasn't an unpleasant listen at all, since those genre labels are more like guidelines.

The "industrial" tag in their music is "justified" by an occasional electronic buzz, simple sharp riffs, choice of words fitting for futuristic poetry (if you hear a band mentioning the word "oxygen" in their lyrics, you can bet your ass it's either industrial or doom) and the vocal approach - harsh vocals that utter lines pointedly, with a certain cold feel to them. As for the symphonic touch, it consists of prominent keyboards delivering intros that have an almost ambient vibe to them. They have a pretty tender sound which is quite softening but adds a lot of substance to the album, even as simplistic and one-dimensional as their use is. Some would say the use of keyboards here is a bit wussy, but it's not 1984 and keys in metal ain't a big deal anymore, or so I hope.

The music possesses that trademark cold Finnish touch so it reminded me almost instantly of Throes Of Dawn. The balance among different musical elements is the same in both bands, only the realization and content are different. Throes Of Dawn are obviously more experienced and have better production, but these two lads have done something really enjoyable for a first try, so you should watch out for them in the future.