‘Faster than the Flame’ opens up Powerwolf‘s 8th album called ‘Call of the Wild’. It is classic Powerwolf: clean power metal with standard tuned, fast guitars that produce a blast of power through your speakers. In this first song the melody of ‘Fire and Forgive’ from their ‘The Sacrament of Sin‘ album comes through a bit. 

‘Beast of Gévaudan‘ was the first single released for this album. Guitarist Matthew Greywolf explains the song perfectly: 

‘’The story behind the song couldn’t fit better into the world of Powerwolf: It’s about a mysterious beast that killed countless people in the south of France at the end of the 18th century. The beast was never caught and there have always been many legends surrounding the events, up to the interpretation of the clergy, who saw the beast as ‘God’s punishment’ or even as a ‘savior of mankind from the worldly and sinful existence’’.

‘Dancing With the Dead‘ was the second single that got released. And what a blast that was. This was the song that got me so excited about this album. It’s calm and tamed in the verses, but when the chorus comes, all the power gets unleashed. It’s catchy and stays in your head forever, once you’ve listened to it once. The video is presented in a theater like way. Fast video shots follow each other and the movements of lead singer Attila Dorn’s arms make it look like he is dancing. Very fitting with the song title. 

‘Varcolac‘, or werewolf in Romanian, is a song that reminds me of the classic Powerwolf song ‘Werewolfs of Armenia’ from their ‘Bible of the Beast‘ album. Not the melody, but the ‘Oeh Ah’ part. That part made ‘Werewolfs of Armenia’ one of the most popular songs in their live set. ‘Varcolac‘ has a lite version of the ‘Oeh Ahs’ in it. So who knows. Do we get another song that is going to blast its way into their live set? I love the breakdown near the end. A riff accompanied by a choir leads you to the solo.

‘Alive or Undead‘ welcomes you with a choir and a piano intro. On top of that comes the voice of Attila Dorn. The man is actually a trained opera singer, which is clearly noticeable here. The organs played by Falk Maria Schlegel join in too. A bit later, drummer Roel van Helden follows and when the brothers Matthew and Charles Greywolf fall in, the band is complete and they blast you away again with this wall of sound. This song knows different intensities throughout. Very surprising and a very strong performance it is.

‘Blood for Blood (Faoladh)‘ sounds a bit folky to my ears . An uplifting beat to cheer up your troops going into battle .

Falk Maria Schlegel opens the song ‘Glaubenskraft‘ or Power of Faith in English. Another song that really jumps out in terms of sound. It’s so clear and loud, I’m overwhelmed by the power they can create on a studio song. This will be amazing when played live with the correct sound engineering.  

The title song of this album, ‘Call of the Wild‘, enters with a lead guitar playing a melody over a catchy riff that leads us smoothly to the chorus. It goes all in and is over before you know it. So smooth. Powerwolf really has grown in their style. It’s still them, but they have improved so much in the delivery of their songs. 

The verses of ‘Sermon of Swords‘ contain a lot of fast spoken words. They lead to a very catchy chorus where the title is named a couple of times. Those words tell the story about what I think is a sermon telling a lord that something bad is going to happen, and that it needs to be addressed fast.

‘Undress to Confess‘ is one of those classical Powerwolf jokes. Just like ‘Resurrection by Erection’ of their ‘Bible of the Beast’ album. It are these songs that show that Powerwolf is in for a laugh while also creating this amazing music that is more on point on this album than ever before. 

Closer ‘Reverent of Rats‘ blasts out one more time with a faster pace, fast palm muted guitars and organs being played. 

Wow, I love the intensity of this album. ‘Call of the Wild‘ gives you a full sound that particularly comes out with headphones on. It’s the classical Powerwolf formula: power metal with organ sounds and mostly werewolf or religious themes. It does not count as much hallelujahs or amens as their previous albums. Something I’m happy about since that could get a bit repetitive. ‘Call of the Wild‘ is not at all repetitive. It’s out there, it’s really improved sound wise and it gives Powerwolf a new, upgraded style of music. Like I said a couple of times already, you just really get blown away by this wall of sound they create. Next to that intensity, they also know how to have fun with some great sing alongs and a fun song as well. I definitely recommend this one!

If you want to catch Powerwolf live, they are coming to the Lotto Arena in Antwerp on October 9th, 2021. 

Release date: July 16, 2021
Label: Napalm Records
Tracklist:

1. Faster then the Flame
2. Beast of Gévaudan
3. Dancing with the Dead
4. Varcolac
5. Alive or Undead
6. Blood for Blood (Faoladh)
7. Glaubenskraft
8. Call of the Wild
9. Sermon of Swords
10. Undress to Confess
11. Reverent of Rats