Artist : Powerwolf

Album : Call of the Wild

Release Date : 16-07-2021

Added : 06-09-2021

I could sum up the last 'Powerwolf' with the conclusion of my last column devoted to the album 'The Sacrament of Sin' : " Powerwolf' continues to make 'Powerwolf' with so much energy and it is not with this last album that the we could say the opposite but, on the other hand, they do it so well that it would be a shame to sulk our pleasure... ". And yes, because albums of the Germans follow each other and they continue to deliver us (for 10 years now) good power metal with melodies that are grafted directly into your head and this latest opus 'Call of the Wind' doesn't make exception to the rule and will come to bring a little freshness, carefreeness and a few more decibels in the lounges of amateurs of this festive metal which will make them, for a moment, get out of the concerns of this health crisis that does not end.

The recipe is now well established : take a melody that runs through your head all day long, frenzied rhythms to knock your head off by dint of headbanging, riffs of muscular saturated guitars and grandiose symphonic effects with generous choirs, mix it all up and, to illustrate this with the beginning of this opus, the Germans offer you four compositions of formidable effectiveness with 'Faster Than The Flame' which serves us an explosive aperitif, then, the story of the beast of Gévaudan and its magnificent choirs in the second part (see video above), 'Dancing with the Dead' (see video here) and its heady chorus, and 'Varcolac' which reminds me of Russian influences of 'Imperial Age'. After so much energy debauchery, 'Powerwolf' splits into a magnificent power ballad with 'Alive or Undead' which should take a good place in concert then return to an energetic 'Blood for Blood' (see video here) in a very catchy metal/folk atmosphere. The second part of the album continues to scroll through memorable choruses and the 'Glaubenskraft', 'Undress to Confess' and 'Reverent of Rats' are added to the already long list of German anthems. And as he had done on 'The Sacrament of Sin', the deluxe version available on Spotify offers us, first, a second CD with songs of the Germans performed by artists of the metal scene with among others 'Doro' (very nice interpretation of 'Where the Wild Wolves Are Gone'), 'Ralf Scheepers' from 'Primal Fear', 'Christopher Bowes' from 'Alestorm', 'Chris Harms' from 'Lord Of The Lost' or even' Bjorn "Speed" Strid' from 'The Night Flight Orchestra' and in a third CD, The Germans of 'Powerwolf' offer us the orchestral versions which give a completely different vision of these epic titles, the orchestral and vocal arrangements being particularly emphasized.

In summary, this new album should, like its predecessor, bring together a fairly large audience of power metal who love effective melodies in epic atmospheres beyond you wildest and, even if we know what to expect now at the release from an album of 'Powerwolf', we are caught up in the game each time with these hymns which make you feel good and happy...

Line Up / Musicians

Attila Dorn (Vocal), Charles Greywolf (Bass, Guitar), Matthew Greywolf (Guitar), Falk Maria Schlegel (Keybords), Roel van Helden (Drums) + Guests (CD 2) : Ralf Scheepers (Vocal), Alissa White-Gruz (Vocal), Hegg Johan (Vocal), Doro (Vocal), Matt Heafy (Vocal), Bjorn "Speed" Strid (Vocal), Chris Harms (Vocal), Johannes Eckerström (Vocal), Christopher Bowes (Vocal), Jari Mäenpäa (Vocal)