1121. Powerwolf / Call of the Wild. 2021. 3.5/5

Powerwolf has been proficient in releasing albums, with Call of the Wild being their eighth studio album. In amongst that they have had songs that have charted in countries through their native Germany and other parts of Europe, including “We Drink Your Blood”, “Sanctified with Dynamite” and “Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend”. The lyrics of the band are characterised by the treatment of Christianity and ancient Romanian legends. Indeed, werewolves and vampires are just a part of the Powerwolf lyrical mysticism, with creatures and beasts from legends throughout other parts of the world also being using as the basis of their songs. They also mix in religious overtones, without coming out and specifying what particular side of the divide they may inhabit themselves. Powerwolf, however, do not consider themselves a religious band, but rather call themselves spiritual. In an interview with Metal Hammer in 2019, titled “Too many bands take themselves too seriously”, Matthew Greywolf was asked if he considered himself to be a Christian or a Satanist. His answer was perfect: "I am a metallist, a metal fan. Metal is my religion. Look at all these people, what unites them? I can tell you, it's the fucking metal." Now THAT’S the kind of answer you want to hear from someone in that position!

Powerwolf play a different type of the power metal genre than most bands who get lumped into that faction. While the keyboards are always prevalent and add a lot to the atmospheric sound that the band utilises, they do not dominate in the way that power metal bands usually have them, as a duelling role against the single guitar that most of these bands possess. Here the keyboards are an important component of the music, but in a keyboard/guitar trade off. With two guitarists, they still dominate the main passages of the songs, which is what gives them their edge over those power metal bands that only have a single guitarist.

For the fans of Powerwolf they do cover most bases here on Call of the Wild. There is even their power ballad, something they have kept clear of for most of their career, which has been a point I have admired of them to this time. “Alive or Undead” pushes their boundaries in a direction hitherto unexplored, but as you would expect they do a great job of it without resorting to making it overly emotional and (to be honest) boring. If you have to do a power ballad, this is the way to make it work. And as always there is their slightly left of appropriate song, this time the catchy and fun “Undress to Confess”, a song that may draw some negative comments from some on social media, but for me just reinforces the fun that this band has with its music. Because of the grand design of keyboards and even organ on this album that is making its presence felt more on this album, there is a certain symphonic sound to their music which, if you are not a fan of it will probably make it harder to get yourself into this album, given the way the band has been developing over recent albums. Songs such as “Glaubenskraft” and “Blood for Blood” have that congregational feel to them, something that some fans have trouble reconciling. But for others the speed and heavier guitaring from songs like the title track “Call of the Wild”, the opening track “Faster Than the Flame”, “Dancing With the Dead”, “Vercolac”, “Sermon of Swords” and the first single “Beast of Gevaudan” are more likely to be your style. It isn’t hard to pick up the band’s stated influences, certainly in some of the guitar solos where their love of Iron Maiden is obvious, and in their gothic atmosphere their love of Mercyful Fate and Forbidden comes through.

I was surprised just how much I enjoyed this album from the first time I put it on. I initially came across the band the way I generally find new bands in this day and age, by the annual rating charts of albums on the rateyourmusic.com website that I have been a part of for over 15 years. From that I found their covers album and then The Sacrament of Sin album, and from that point I went backwards and checked out their entire discography. But for some reason this album resonated with me immediately. I enjoy all of their other albums, but perhaps not all of them in their entirety. Here on Call of the Wild, I pretty much enjoy the entire album from start to finish, and that includes the power ballad “Alive or Undead”, only the band’s second true power ballad in their existence. As much as I enjoy it, I hope it isn’t something they decide to do more of!

Rating: "And at night we're going wild when we set the world on fire" 3.5/5