Finnish heavy melodic death metal unit, Wolfheart, recently announced the upcoming release of their new full-length Winter War epic, Wolves Of Karelia, out April 10 via Napalm Records.

Today, the band has revealed the unrelenting, heavy-hitting single "The Hammer". A windmill-worthy intro is accented by sinister synth and marching percussion as the song switches effortlessly between black metal-inspired segments and melodic death metal riffage, closing with a somber acoustic passage. The video shows the band during the Wolves Of Karelia recording sessions with producer Saku Moilanen, giving fans an insider's look at behind-the-scenes studio footage. The video was filmed by Valtteri Hirvonen and edited by Winternotes Production.

Frontman Tuomas Saukkonen says about the track and video: "'The Hammer' is the best song to describe the Finnish perseverance and willpower. 'Never surrender, Never retreat, The last defender, The hammer of the north'. Those lines really underline the fact that no matter what the conditions were, the enemy had to be stopped. Nature was the anvil and you had to become a hammer, and between those two, no invading army could survive. With the video we wanted to reflect the brotherhood in the band and the crew in contrast to the wrath of the lyrics."

Just as wildlife itself maintains harmony with a violent clash of beauty and unpredictability, Wolves Of Karelia explores the band’s previously coined genre of “winter metal” – smoothly bridging a traditional approach of extreme genres with tracks like the breakneck epic “Reaper”, while maintaining atmospheric and acoustic elements on songs such as the bludgeoning wall-of-sound “The Hammer” and grandiose “Horizon On Fire”. Crowned by the deeply stunning instrumental interlude “Eye Of The Storm”, Wolves Of Karelia could easily go down in metal history as Wolfheart’s most intense record.

The album’s lyrical and musical content is inspired by the Winter War waged between Russia and the band’s native country, Finland, which took place during the winter of November 1939-March 1940. Finland ultimately managed to stop the Russian troops from invading their country. Wolfheart mastermind and frontman Tuomas Saukkonen was inspired by the personal stories of local veterans, conveying the tales of what they experienced and survived from their perspectives. Somber, frostbitten and heroic, Wolves Of Karelia portrays these tales with stunning musical precision.

Wolves Of Karelia will be available in the following formats:

- 4 Page Digipack
- Digital Album
- Shirt & Digipack
- Black LP Sleeve
- Silver LP Sleeve - limited to 100 copies

Pre-order here.

Wolves Of Karelia tracklisting:

"Hail Of Steel"
"Horizon On Fire"
"Reaper"
"The Hammer"
"Eye Of The Storm"
"Born From Fire"
"Arrows Of Chaos"
"Ashes"

"Hail Of Steel" video:

"Ashes" lyric video:

Formed in 2013 by frontman Tuomas Saukkonen in Lahti, Finland, Wolfheart initially began as a solo project after he disbanded all of his other projects to begin again with a fresh sound and concept. The project’s debut album, 2013’s Winterborn, consisted of just Tuomas performing all instruments. After being joined by bandmates and releasing three additional acclaimed albums – 2015’s Shadow World, 2017’s Tyhjyys and their 2018 Napalm Records debut Constellation of the Black Light – Wolfheart is back to take another bite out of the scene with Wolves Of Karelia, their strongest album to date.

Wolfheart is:

Tuomas Saukkonen: Guitar, Vocals
Joonas Kauppinen: Drums
Lauri Silvonen: Bass, Backing Vocals
Vagelis Karzis: Session Guitar

(Photo - Valtteri Hirvonen)