From the very beginning it has everything I like about this kind of music. Great vocals, fantastic double kick on the drums, terrific guitaring and soloing and the ever-present keyboards adding their support to the mix. It is the initial build up and then double-kick drumming of the opening track “Fire & Forgive” that lures me in, and it kicks off the album superbly with the anthemic vocals pushed along by the speed of the music underneath, encouraging you to sing along as well. “Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend” has the first incantation of the “woah-oh-oah" that is inbuilt to have crowds singing along at the concerts, but is just as effective at home in the lounge room. “Killers with the Cross” drags the pace and beat back into a more traditional metal or hard rock frame, and it is the vocals again that make you feel like singing along, while the solo breaks are impressive as well. “Incense & Iron” follows a similar trajectory and is also good, allowing the chants and fist pumping vocals to drive their way throughout.
“Where the Wild Wolves Have Gone” is the power ballad of sorts, slower and resoundingly more introspective. As per usual when it comes to this type of song it is not in my sphere of entertainment, though I am well aware that it is (apparently) necessary to have at least of these songs on every power metal album. It’s done well, but it’s not my cup of tea. “Stossgebet” is a good song without being brilliant, perhaps trying too hard for that epic sound. “Nightside of Siberia” returns the album to the front foot with another song based on solid rhythm and chanting vocals. This is followed by the excellent title track “The Sacrament of Sin” where the fire and speed returns in full bloom. For me this is where the best aspects of the band come to the fore. When the double kick drives the guitars to full speed and the vocals are allowed to flow along in symphony the band sounds at its best. This is a great song, and is followed by “Venom of Venus” which continues the great thematic values of the album. The final two songs, “Nighttime Rebel” and “Fist by Fist (Sacralize or Strike)” finish off the album on a good note.
Five or six full rotation plays in and I have to say that Powerwolf have got me on board. It is all and well to utilise all of the aspects that comes with being a power metal band – using the word ‘power’ in your band name is a bit of a giveaway – but you still have to do it well to pull it off, because if it is less than great it will just be a turn off. Here on The Sacrament of Sin at least I think they have the mix right. The guitars dominate the keyboards which I am a fan of. I like the keyboard aspect in power metal but sometimes think it is overplayed. Here the guitars of Matthew and Charles Greywolf are the dominant feature which gives the songs more depth and strength. The drumming of Roel van Helden is terrific, and the vocals of Attila Dorn are pleasantly enjoyable.
While the start and end of the album outweighs what comes in the middle, this for me is a more than enjoyable first stop on the Powerwolf band wagon. There’s no doubt I will now have to work my way through the discography to see if they have been on this wavelength throughout their existence.
Best songs: “The Sacrament of Sin”, “Venom of Venus”, “Fire & Forgive” and “Killers with the Cross”.
Rating: “From their destiny they wake, bring hypocrisy and hate”. 3.5/5
