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It's been about four years since Seasons of the Wolf's last opus Nocturnal Revelation, and I confess for a while there I was wondering how long they were going to take getting this puppy out. But SOTW do things their own way, at their own speed. This is their fourth release, once again through their own Mother Earth Music. This band produces, designs, and distributes their albums without any help from anybody. They are DIY in the extreme, and this is by far the best album they have done.

This album kicks off with the killer, groovy "Wings of Doom", and segues through other great tunes like "Snaggletooth", "Nikhedonia", and the awesome instrumental "Alien Landscapes". I kept waiting for the weak track to hit, but it never really does. There are songs I didn't like as well at first spin, like "The Reaper" and "Peace on Earth", but more listens had me singing those too. This album is heavy, trippy, groovy and complex, with way more layers and details than you can absorb at a single listen. Scullywolf's guitar sounds so retro you travel back in time just listening to it, and Wes Waddell's voice is again a gritty sneer that perfectly accents the music at hand.

Seasons Of The Wolf don't follow any trends, and they just play like the last 30 years of metal never happened. Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, and Nazareth are the stars this band steers by. For all the bands getting into the retro thing these days, SOTW have been doing it for about 15 years – since way before it was cool. Heavy, complex, and wholly uncompromising, Once In A Blue Moon is the best work from a great band. Highly recommended.