Powerwolf - Preachers Of The Night |
Published August 13 2013
|
|
|
Amen And Attack* |
| Genre | Heavy/Power Metal |
Attila Dorn
|
Vocals
|
| Tracks | 10 |
Matthew Greywolf
|
Guitar
|
| Running time | 45 Min. |
Charles Greywolf
|
Guitar
|
| Label | Napalm Records |
Charles Greywolf
|
Bass
|
| Release | 19 July 2013 |
Roel van Helden
|
Drums
|
| Country | Germany |
Falk Maria Schlegel
|
Keyboard
|
| Producer | - | ||
| Similar artists | Dream Evil, Mystic Prophecy | ||
These are the guys who are Catholics in the morning and Satanists at night. In the light of the morning they are preachers and tyrants, and in the dark of the night demons in silence. Ehre sei Gott in der Höh.
Where to begin? I easily get carried away when I reflect upon this kind of nocturnal metal hymns with that ever so present feeling of righteous crusades in the name of God. The merge of clever, humoristic lyrics with a serious performance and chanted prayers indeed is empowering, compelling and entertaining. I can sense irony and criticism aimed at religion, specifically Christianity. Although this might be the case, you never quite relish the prayers and feel this anxious and sanctioned to make Gods work as after these songs thunder through your ears.
If you never have heard this potent band, imagine straight-forward power metal with shadier themes than usual, mostly of religious and occult nature. Church organs, operatic singing and chants enrich the scenery, and really make the soundscape unique. This album has a clear red line; throughout it's a lycanthropic metal sermon which is emphasized by prayers and lines in Latin. The power is also enhanced by additions of the occasional German.
What is so special? The riffage and sweet melodies of "Secrets Of The Sacristy" and "Cardinal Sin" surely packs a punch. Some of the melodies are viciously air-guitar friendly and the choruses are infectious and catchy. The more than able singer Attila Dorn's strong and inspiring voice are truly impressive, and lines such as "Make them pray or make them pay" and "Bring me pandemonium, speak the word of God, all we need in life is flesh and blood" are both simple and thought-provoking. The irony is crystal clear, but the lyrics are mostly humoristic, as we see a prime example of in "Coleus Sanctus". Just the name of the song raises the bar of the whole album in my opinion.
Worth mentions are the excellent video of "Amen & Attack", and that there is an Altar-edition available of this album which includes some orchestrated versions. There are few bands that I want to experience live more than Powerwolf right now. The outfits straight from the halls of churches entwined with corpse-painted werewolf-vampires sure are appealing.
Where do we land with this? I'm blown away by the awesomeness! However, I could understand why some listeners won't enjoy this. It could be too much hilarity and absurdity on the edge of silliness for some to handle. For me it's a brilliant work of metal art. The only reason the originality score isn't higher is the fact that they've released albums earlier which are similar. I deem eight and a half chalices of sacred blood to be well deserved for this album. Just buy it, listen to it and howl in the night. The power of the lycanthropic Christ compels you.
See
also review of: Blessed
& Possessed , Return
In Bloodred
|
Performance
|
Originality
|
Production
|
Vocals
|
Songwriting
|
|
8 |
6 |
8 |
8 |
8,5 |
|
Summary
|
||||
|
8,5 chalices of 10 - Sofus |
||||
|
Related links: |
|
