Powerwolf's 'Wake Up the Wicked' - Album Review

In a year which has already seen quite a few power metal releases, this summer has dropped what are likely to be seen as two of the year's biggest albums. Whether they are the best remains to be seen, but there are certain bands which have often been seen as leaders of the scene - so new releases from them are always going to be seen as events. A review of HammerFall's latest album Avenge the Fallen will follow this piece at some point, but today we are going to look at the latest release from Germany's Powerwolf. Whilst the five-piece may not have as much history as a band like HammerFall, who essentially helped to spearhead the European power metal revival in the late 1990s/early 2000s, Powerwolf have become big hitters in the genre. With the exception of Sabaton, who are arena-fillers in Europe now, and the current super version of Helloween which is still doing the rounds, there are probably no other bigger power metal bands than Powerwolf. They are already very popular here in Europe - but, like Sabaton, they are also starting to make some inroads into the American market. Bigger and better things are likely on Powerwolf's horizon, then, and it is not hard to see why. In fact, I think they are extremely comparable to Sabaton - both in terms of sound and in overall appeal. Musically, the two bands are quite similar. Both write simple, muscular power metal anthems with plenty of keyboards; whilst both also have a strong theme. In Powerwolf's case, this theme is horror and werewolves - and this schtick has certainly helped bring their live shows and overall image to life over the years. I have seen the band live twice put on a strong show both times - and I have also been listening to their albums for around a decade, having got my start with them with 2011's Blood of the Saints. Despite enjoying them, though, I would not consider myself a die-hard Powerwolf fan. I find their albums to be fun bits of escapism every so often, and I always make an effort to get each new album as it drops, but I do not tend to revisit them that often. This differs to my view of Sabaton, which I would consider myself a much bigger fan of, although I have felt my fandom drift somewhat over the past couple of years following their stale recent album. Perhaps there is only room for one such theme-heavy power metal band in my life, but nevertheless I picked up Powerwolf's ninth 'proper' album Wake Up the Wicked when it dropped last month. It sounds exactly how I expected it to, but I have still been having quite a bit of fun with it. My reforged love of power metal over the past couple of years has likely helped, but I also feel that there is far less filler here than usual. Powerwolf albums often have a few songs which fail to excite, but pretty much everything here is memorable.

Powerwolf's albums tend to be very digestible, too. They are generally around 40 minutes long with each track being fairly short - so they rarely outstay their welcome. This is the case again with Wake Up the Wicked, and Bless 'Em with the Blade kicks things off in fine fashion. It is less than three minutes long and, following an organ-drenched intro, the song showcases the band's fast-paced side perfectly. Lots of Powerwolf's material is quite mid-paced and dramatic, to allow for big choruses, but this track goes for a much thrashier approach with drummer Roel van Helden laying into his double bass drums throughout the verses, whilst the driving guitars of the Greywolf 'brothers' and the gothic keyboards of Falk Maria Schlegel create a perfectly spooky approach. Despite this pace, though, the song is still pretty anthemic - with a shout-along chorus still operating well despite the thrashy atmosphere. Frontman Attila Dorn's voice perhaps does not sound as operatic here thanks to the pace, with him taking a more gravelly road, but the band's core sound is still very much present. Following on from the high-octane opening, Sinners of the Seven Seas operates within the band's more traditional boundaries. The track is a mid-paced one which features a good mix of old-school crunchy riffing, influenced by bands like Accept, alongside a sparser arrangement at times which allows the keyboards and vocals to dominate. It is not uncommon for the guitars to drop out during Powerwolf's songs, as they do during parts of the verses, with the bass leading the way instead, whilst the chorus is a real hooky moment - which does up the pace somewhat whilst still retaining the crunch of the rest of the song. With the previous track taking on a much crunchier sound, Kyrie Klitorem is more lead-based overall. Of all the songs on the album up to this point, it is easily the most cinematic and the most overtly-hooky. It feels a little less heavy than the last two songs and dials up the power metal drama in a big way - with a big guitar lead opening things up with a rendition of the later chorus melody, whilst keyboard and bass-heavy verses allow the vocals to really shine whilst injecting some drama with the odd heavier accent. Essentially all of the songs here have big choruses, but this one showcases the band's slightly smoother side - with more of a choral backing to really boost the vocals and the keyboards generally louder than the guitars in the mix. Heretic Hunters really showcases that comparisons to Sabaton are apt - and the song is a real mid-paced stomper that very much mines the Sabaton well, whilst also throwing in some folk metal elements. The main melody line sounds like it is played on a hurdy gurdy, or at least a synth mimicking such, whilst the rest of the track is very rhythm guitar-heavy. There are few lead guitar moments here, with the folky melody instead leading the charge between each verse/chorus rendition, but the guitars still add plenty of weight - whilst van Helden's drums are perhaps the most interesting instrument during the verses. This is a song which is very much about its chorus, though, and it is very anthemic - with some of the album's biggest hooks which Dorn really sinks his teeth into. I can see the track becoming a real live favourite and it is the sort of fists-in-the-air anthem which has made Powerwolf so popular.

Lead single 1589 is another mid-paced piece and it is one of a number of songs in the band's catalogue which tells a tale from history. It is a bit more fleshed out than some of the other songs here, too, and it is one of the album's longest and most diverse pieces. It opens with the sound of bells and birds, before a cutting piano melody sets the tone which the verses are then built around. The verses build slowly as the chorus is approached, with Dorn singing in a storytelling manner against this piano melody and guitars which gradually grow in stature. Tension gradually builds during the song, then, but by the time the chorus is reached the rest of the band have crashed in - and the chorus is a staccato shout-along moment which is sure to go down well live. A later slow-burning and surprisingly bluesy guitar solo only increases the song's moody atmosphere further - and this style is slightly different for the norm where Powerwolf are concerned. The song is one of the album's highlights as a result. Viva Vulgata has a bit of a swing to it and it is another somewhat smoother track along the lines of Kyrie Klitorem. This is quite a common trope for Powerwolf and the band have written many songs which sound quite a bit like Viva Vulgata, but by the time the chorus rolls around I do not imagine that many fans will mind too much - as it is another extremely hooky moment with big choral vocals and plenty of pleasing keyboard textures. A pretty heroic guitar solo is thrown in later too, which plays off some gothic organ twists nicely, with the track overall being another which builds somewhat towards the explosive chorus. The album's title track follows and it opens somewhat more slowly than is typical - with some gothic choirs and percussive drums setting an ominous tone, but once the song gets going proper it is another fast-paced track similar to the album's opening cut. There are not too many thrashy moments here, but this is a track which puts van Helden to the test with plenty of fast double bass drum patterns - with the guitarists providing plenty of machine gun crunch. Despite the odd slower moment, such as a dramatic pre-chorus, the song is very much one that relies on its speed to make an impact. The chorus remains a shout-along affair despite this overall pace, whilst a later riff-led section hits quite hard as this sound is not all that typical for Powerwolf. Another historical-based piece, Joan of Arc opens with its chorus, or at least a stripped back rendition of it, and then launches into a pretty symphonic intro which is one of the most dramatic sections on the album. Powerwolf's keyboard textures generally mimic gothic organs but the keyboards this time are much more string-adjacent - which creates a bit more of a traditional symphonic metal feel at times. This is welcome, though, given the song's overall grandeur - and it makes sense when parts of the verses are more stripped back to allow the vocals to dominate before the band build towards the big chorus. It is another big sing-a-long moment, too, and the guitar solo is also one of the album's longest and most involved.

Thunderpriest generally ups the pace again and goes for an old-school power metal sound with plenty of thunderous double bass drumming and a simple, yet hooky, guitar lead to draw the listener in from the off. If the album has a weak link, though, I think that this song is it. Compared to many of the other songs here, I feel that it falls flat. It is another fast-paced piece in general, and I think the other thrashier songs here are stronger, and the chorus is also probably the weakest on the album. It does not really do anything different from the band's traditional style - but it does not really seem to go anywhere, with the shout-along style feeling less vital than it often does. It is certainly not a bad song but it feels less exciting than many of the other tracks here which helps it to feel like the album's weakest moment. Opening with a children's choir, though, We Don't Wanna Be No Saints gets the album back on track. It is another slightly smoother sounding piece, with a bit of a swing and theatre to the sweeping chorus and another somewhat more stripped back verse which features some potent drum accents to help back Dorn's vocals. Unlike Joan of Arc, too, the keyboards here return to the organ which is typical of the band's sound. They are used in a similarly dramatic way, but the organ helps this song to sound more classic than the slight shake-up that Joan of Arc was. The children's choir is a fun point of difference, though, and it is reused later as a bit of a breakdown, whilst the chorus also features some barked gang vocals despite the smoother melodies and organ generally present. The album then comes to a close with Vargamor, another track with subtle folk influences. Powerwolf generally include at least one ballad on their albums, and have ended albums with slower songs before, and this is the only song here which could be called something of a ballad - although I would not consider it as such. It certainly opens slowly, with Dorn's voice against an atmospheric backing. This first verse continues on in a slow manner until the first chorus - but the rest of the band then crash in and the track essentially becomes another mid-paced typical Powerwolf anthem with a pretty big chorus. The later verses are a bit slower again, but only relatively, and any pretence of the song being a ballad is soon dismissed. The symphonic sound flirted with earlier returns with a choral-led bridge section, whilst there is a pretty hooky guitar solo used later for effect. The song does slow down as it closes out, though, with a rendition of the chorus sung over an acoustic guitar backing used as a fade out. These slower opening and closing moments of the song work well, though, despite the album containing no actual ballad - and it does give the last portion of the album a bit of a different feel despite the harder rocking approach generally taken here. Overall, though, the album is very much classic Powerwolf. There are a few brief twists and turns here, which are welcome, but generally the band just stick to their core sound. I have enjoyed all of the band's albums but this one is really resonating with me - and I can see myself playing it quite a bit going forward despite Powerwolf in general not being regulars on my iPod.

The album was released on 26th July 2024 via Napalm Records. Below is the band's promotional video for 1589.