Powerwolf: Call Of The Wild (LP)

Powerwolf - a name that makes the eyes of every disciple of traditional melodic heavy metal moist with joy and stands for a successful quintet that, after 15 years of steep ascent, basically needs no more extensive introduction. Last year, the anniversary was celebrated with a best-of show, which united the highlights of the six studio albums released to date - including both long-running hits from the early works as well as more recent hits from the gold-awarded records "Blessed & Possessed" and "The Sacrament Of Sin", such as the platinum hit single "Demons Are A Girl's Best Friend" - under one roof. Now, only about 12 months later, the probably most successful pack of the contemporary German metal fauna is already ready with bared fangs for the next bloody foray In the form of the programmatically titled "Call Of The Wild", which was once again recorded in cooperation with the venerable producer duo Jens Bogren and Joost van den Broek at the Swedish Fascination Street Studios, a new chapter in the band's history has been opened, that will serve up beloved classic trademarks to veteran and newly recruited Powerwolf followers alike, while surprising and delighting them at every stage of this wild 11-track ride with stylistic developments on an unprecedented scale! "Faster Than The Flame" - an opening blast that ignites the bonfire in purest Powerwolf fashion as a fiery distillation of such traditionally-fulminant album openers as "Amen & Attack" and "Fire & Forgive" - bears the distinctive signature of the creative minds around main songwriter Matthew Greywolf already in the first chords and impressively demonstrates that the five-piece has undoubtedly succeeded in creating its very own, unmistakable sound over the course of the last one and a half decades. From this bomb-proof base, the wolves subsequently venture out with tracks like the outrageously catchy "Dancing With The Dead" (a future cult number in every decent headbanger party playlist!), the gloriously heretical "Glaubenskraft" or Attila Dorn's epic-emotional star hour "Alive Or Undead" - a power ballad of the very first order, which finally cements the reputation of the frontman as an absolute exceptional bard - to enter new musical territory every minute, in order to conquer it for themselves almost in the same breath and turn it into one big firework of fresh influences Lyrically, Call Of The Wild (besides the usual tongue-in-cheek heresy à la "Undress To Confess") is the hour of the mythical figures, all of which would have good cards in the fight for the rank of the official band mascot: While "Beast Of Gévaudan" tells the story of a legendary predator that spread fear and terror in southern France in the middle of the 18th century, the stomping "Varcolac" pays homage to the eponymous wolfish demon of Romanian folklore, before "Blood For Blood (Faoladh)" conjures up the Irish relative of the moon worshiper known to us as "Werewolf" in front of a fitting sound backdrop Finally, in the final spurt, "Reverent Of Rats" puts a pompous exclamation mark behind a work that can justifiably be described as the most multi-faceted in the band's history to date and which - beyond all promotional platitudes - enters the race as a hot contender for the top position among this year's metal releases!