Powerwolf - London Review

I am not long back from my first trip away in March - which saw me head back to London only a fortnight after my previous trip to the capital. March is certainly one of those busy periods gig-wise for me - and before the month is out I will have seen two more gigs locally, plus another in London and shows in both Wolverhampton and Birmingham. I spent a weekend in rainy London a couple of weeks ago to catch both Sylosis and Smith/Kotzen - so it was nice to return to find the city somewhat dryer this time. Instead of staying in the East End and gigging in both Kentish Town and Shepherd's Bush - this time I stayed in Cricklewood, somewhere I had not been to for a few years, and was gigging in Wembley. I think that it had a been a couple of years since I had last been to Wembley, too, but the reason which drew me back to the OVO Arena was Powerwolf - the German power metal band who have become surprisingly big in recent years. I have been a casual fan of Powerful for a number of years - having first become aware of them via their 2011 album Blood of the Saints when it was their newest release. I have not always kept up with the band in that time, but of late I have paid much more attention. Their last few albums have all been reviewed here - whilst I, before last night, had seen them live twice, albeit somewhat by default. I first saw Powerwolf live back in 2017, on a co-headline tour with Epica, and the next time came at the 2019 iteration of Bloodstock Open Air - where they were Friday night special guests, warming up the crowd before Sabaton's headline set. As such, prior to last night I had not seen the band live for seven years. Powerwolf have not always been regular visitors to the UK in more recent times - with the only UK shows following that BOA set being in 2022 where they played at Download and then in London later in the year. I was always surprised that Powerwolf did not come over here more often, as I was under the impression that they were pretty popular. In some ways, Powerwolf seem to be following Sabaton's route to being genuinely big - at least in Europe. Whether they quite reach Sabaton levels of popularity remains to the seen - but there are plenty of similarities between the two bands. They both play somewhat chunky power metal and have a sound which rarely changes, they both put a lot of effort into their larger-than-life stage shows, and they both have a schtick. In Powerwolf's case, that schtick is werewolf and Hammer-esque horror themes. Over the years I have started to tire of the gimmicky end of power metal, which all too often consists of style over substance and an inspiration well which soon dries up, but Powerwolf have strong enough songwriting chops and a charismatic and unique enough singer to make their one trick seemingly keep working. The band had also impressed live when I had seen them previously, too, even if I felt that they indulged in too much talking in between songs. This was especially the case during the BOA set - during which I remember an especially egregious bit where frontman Attila Dorn taught the crowd to a sing a lengthy bit of a song for at least five minutes, which seemed extremely wasteful at a festival. Despite this, though, I had wanted to see the band as a headline act - so when an OVO Arena show was announced as part of a wider European tour it did not take me long to pick up a ticket. The OVO Arena is significantly larger than the Roundhouse, where the band last headlined here, so their popularity certainly extends to the UK, too, although having power metal legends HammerFall on the bill as a special guest, another band that has rarely visited the UK in recent years, likely helped.

I opted for a seated ticket, so I was quite far back in the arena - but I had a good view of the stage. I was able to take in the stage show nicely as a result - and watch the arena fill up throughout the night. There were three bands on the bill, and opening the night, kicking off around 15 minutes after I got the venue, were Italy's Wind Rose - a folk/power metal band that I had previously seen live in 2019 opening for Gloryhammer. Gloryhammer are a good example of the sort of power metal band I have somewhat gone off in more recent years - and Wind Rose tread quite close to the line, although I casually enjoyed them in 2019 and I did so again last night. They are a not a band that I have given much time to, but they do have a quite interesting sound which is a bit different from most power metal bands. The folk metal influences and melodies help, but they are a little on the heavier side overall - and frontman Francesco Cavalieri has a deep and rich voice which helps the band to stand out. The band do wear costumes, which is a bit of a red flag these days, but their costumes are not all that silly in fairness - and their schtick is the lore of the dwarves from Tolkien's world, mixed with some more generic and anthemic folk metal subject matter. There is a lot to like about Wind Rose, then, and I enjoyed their set yesterday. The sound mix throughout the night was good, and Cavalieri soared above the hard-driving metal of the rest of the band - whilst Claudio Falconcini (guitar/vocals) added some great riffs and shredded solos, and Federico Meranda (keyboards) added most of the folky melodies. Wind Rose did not have a huge amount of time to play with, so they kept the talking to a minimum and powered through a handful of fairly majestic and folky songs with relatively ease. Some of the choruses were hooky, and overall I liked the band's approach to songwriting. There is an epicness to their sound which rarely crosses over into silly territory - and the songs largely came across as sincere, which I appreciate in power metal. The main red flag for Wind Rose, though, is that their most famous song is a novelty cover on an online meme-type song, albeit from years ago, which the crowd went bonkers for. Diggy Diggy Hole has some catchy melodies, especially Wind Rose's rocked-up version, but the inane chorus is essentially everything I do not like about gimmicky power metal these days - and the number of blow-up pickaxes that were being waved about in the crowd basically summed up everything that I am not into about the current power metal scene. It is a shame, really, as Wind Rose's original material is way more interesting than their novelty cover, but they would not be as known without it - so it is likely to be a millstone around their necks forever.

Wind Rose certainly garnered a strong reception, though, and the crowd were very much warmed up for what was to come. HammerFall, easily the band on the bill that I have listened to the most over the years, I thought suffered a little early on from a poorer overall reception - but this changed after a handful of songs and the atmosphere was one again strong. Afforded around an hour, HammerFall had time for 12 songs - and they included a few from their most recent album alongside plenty of fan-favourites from the past. Bands like Powerwolf and Wind Rose would not exist if HammerFall and their peers had not made the European power metal scene boom in the 1990s and 2000s - and tracks like the fast-paced Heeding the Call and the muscular, Accept-like Any Means Necessary, which both came early on, showcased the band's power. I last saw HammerFall in 2022, when they toured with Helloween - and they have delivered each of the handful of times I have seen them live. Last night was no different, with frontman Joacim Cans coming across as likeable as ever whilst his slightly high-pitched vocal delivery remains powerful. The two aforementioned older numbers came early on, but the set opened with Avenge the Fallen from the band's latest album - with gang vocals from the rest of the band shaking the venue's foundations. Riff after riff and chorus after chorus came for the next hour or so - with guitarists Oscar Dronjak and Pontus Norgren trading leads back and forth throughout, whilst Cans covered every inch of the stage. As I mentioned, the first few songs received something of a muted reaction from the crowd, who were probably still folding away their blow-up pickaxes, but the old-school power metal fans in the crowd soon could be heard - and by the time the motorbike sounds of Renegade ran through the venue it seemed that most were now on board. HammerFall are one of those bands that just come across well live. Their songs are generally uncomplicated and built around many classic heavy metal tropes. Despite Cans' easy-on-the-ear voice, HammerFall are often heavier than the fluffier end of power metal - with plenty of NOWBHM in the band's riffing and soloing. There was still plenty of sing-a-long chanting to keep the casuals happy, though, with newer tracks like Hammer High and the evergreen Let the Hammer Fall encouraging sing-a-longs - directed by Cans and the rest of the band. If HammerFall are to have a power metal red flag, then their many lyrics with 'hammer', 'HammerFall', or variations of such is perhaps it - but some slight silliness here and there aside I have always found HammerFall to be a straight ahead and traditional heavy metal act. Stomp-along numbers like Last Man Standing showcased this, whilst it was good to hear three new songs in the set - with the faster-paced The End Justifies a real throwback to the band's early days thanks to David Wallin's (drums) double bass drumming and a melodic thrash approach. There really were no weak moments during the set, with (We Make) Sweden Rock and Hail to the King both conjuring up plenty of singing as the set came towards its end - whilst the ever-present set-closer Hearts on Fire rounded things out nicely. HammerFall rarely disappoint, and they did not do so last night - showcasing at the same time that power metal in the 2020s does not have to be full of gimmicks to succeed. The setlist was:

Avenge the Fallen

Heeding the Call

Any Means Necessary

Hammer of Dawn

Renegade

Hammer High

Last Man Standing

Let the Hammer Fall

The End Justifies

(We Make) Sweden Rock

Hail to the King

Hearts on Fire

After around half an hour, as HammerFall's gear was cleared from the stage and a curtain came down to cover everything - the lights went down and Powerwolf took to the stage. For the next two hours, the large crowd was treated to a bombastic show full of gothic power metal anthems, a lot of fire, and a majestic stage set. In terms of performance, the band were great, and the setlist was a good mix of most of the band's albums - whilst focusing on the most recent ones. The fast-paced Bless 'Em with the Blade kicked things off, and from the off the live sound mix was great. Dorn was in fine voice throughout, his booming vocals soaring above the rest of the band, whilst fill-in guitarist Dom R. Crey did a great job with the leads and soloing. Guitarist-wise, this tour has been a bit strange - with lead guitarist Matthew Greywolf originally planning to sit the tour out for unspecified reasons, with Crey filling in for him - only for rhythm guitarist Charles Greywolf to drop out after a few shows due to a family emergency, meaning that Matthew came back on board. Given that Crey had likely only rehearsed the lead guitar parts, though, Matthew instead played the rhythms - but the somewhat make-shift guitar pairing worked well. Falk Maria Schlegel (keyboards) was high in the mix, too, and overall the band sounded powerful. The sing-a-long Armata Strigoi followed on quickly from Bless 'Em with the Blade, keeping the early energy moving - but this was the only time during the show that two songs were played back to back. My main criticism with Powerwolf live before was the amount of in-between song talking - and this was also the case last night. I do not want to be too negative, as the show was great and the actual musical performances were top-notch - but I really wish the band would just let it flow sometimes. Each time a song came to an end, the two guitarists would walk off stage, and Dorn would stroll back out having already popped off and talk to the crowd for two-to-three minutes before the next song started. He never had anything insightful or interesting to say, either, and it was all the usual inane things that seasoned gig-goers have heard many, many times - and encouraging the crowd to make yet more noise. Of the band's two hours on stage, I would guess that at least half an hour of that was taken up by talking - and honestly I would just rather the band cracked on. I am not sure that anyone really enjoys just cheering for the sake of it - and the band would have heard plenty of noise had they played more songs. I will largely just talk about the songs and the show now, as I have made my point, and there really was a lot to enjoy. The setlist was largely just anthem after anthem. The sweeping, more mid-paced numbers tended to work the best for me, with epic numbers like Dancing with the Dead and Demons Are a Girl's Best Friend really coming alive on stage. A highlight from a stage-set point of view was the piano-led 1589 - which culminated in Schlegel being burnt at the stake. Another big 'show' moment was the somewhat doomier Kreuzfeuer, which easily featured the most pyrotechnics of the night - as Dorn was lifted into the air on a big pillar. The mix of faster-paced numbers and mid-paced anthems was generally well ordered throughout the set, whilst the lone ballad Where the Wild Wolves Have Gone provided something of a welcome change of pace later on. The energy levels kept going right until the end, too, even if the forced stop between each song hindered things overall, with big-hitters like the folky Heretic Hunters and We Drink Your Blood coming towards the end of the main set. The were a break following the latter, but the band were soon back for a three-song encore, including the big Sanctified with Dynamite and the closing anthem Werewolves of Armenia - which was preceded by the most egregious timewasting of the night. Despite this, though, the song was a strong ending anthem - and the show overall was certainly a spectacle. The setlist was:

Bless 'Em with the Blade

Armata Strigoi

Sinners of the Seven Seas

Amen & Attack

Army of the Night

Dancing with the Dead

Incense & Iron

1589

Demons Are a Girl's Best Friend

Kreuzfeuer

Fire & Forgive

Resurrection by Erection

Where the Wild Wolves Have Gone

Heretic Hunters

Joan of Arc

We Drink Your Blood

-

Opening: Angus Dei

Sanctified by Dynamite

Blood for Blood (Faoladh)

Werewolves of Armenia

Wolves Against the World

My criticisms around timewasting and my wider dislike for gimmicky power metal aside, I had a great time in London last night with Powerwolf and the rest of the bands. HammerFall were likely the band of the night for me, as they are just my favourite of the three, but Powerwolf deserve to be playing in big arenas now - and their stage show was great. If they cut down on some of the silliness and presented a bit more of a fluid and smoother-feeling show then the overall live experience would be much better in my opinion - but perhaps the antics are a big part of the modern power metal scene and what the blow-up pickaxe waving types want, hence me having moved away the modern the scene to an extent.