No introductions required here. From casual listeners to highly loyal fans, every metal head has come across POWERWOLF at somepoint. The catholic werewolf priests have released their latest sermon Call Of The Wild and after having listened to it, it’s easy to see why it’s being hailed by fans and critics.
Faster Than The Fire is the opener that starts in the usual POWERWOLF fashion, not complaining as it comes under the category of best album openers. One that entices you in slowly before hitting you with a huge impact. Imagine if previous album openers Blessed & Possessed and Fire & Forgive had merged together to create something unstoppable, this should give you an idea of what Faster Than The Fire sounds like.
When single Beast Of Gévaudan was released, I admit I wasn’t immediately taken by it and was wondering if POWERWOLF were starting to slip. After listening to the album however, I was happy to be proved wrong and was pleased to see that the wolves have still got it. In fact, the song grew on me significantly after listening to it again within the context of the album. Below are just some examples of what this holy testament has to offer.
POWERWOLF hit the nail on the head when it comes to ballads and Alive Or Undead is a majestic one. Think of The Belles Of Notre Dame from Disney’s The Hunchback Of Notre Dame mixed with an epic power ballad from the eighties and this should give you an idea what this beautiful track sounds like. This stunning ballad stops you in your tracks and leaves you feeling fully immersed.
As mentioned in my previous reviews, I do love hearing bagpipes in metal music so I was instantly taken with Blood For Blood (Faoladh). It’s an excellent melody that contains empowering voices from both Attila Dorn and the choirs, finger blistering guitar work from the Greywolf Brothers and galloping beats that make you want to ride into battle. It’s worth mentioning that it’s important that you aren’t doing anything else when listening to this track, a sudden urge to head bang is to be expected.
The title track reminded me of the music you would hear in a final boss battle in a video game. This is down to the pumping energy it gives off and the epic melodies emulating heroicness as you take down the final villain. This track can heavily be applied to the obstacles that you come across in life, this is a new go to track for that morale boost.
Reverent Of Rats gives us one last blast of the wolves power before ending the mass. It’s leaves you wanting to experience the whole sermon time and time again.
A phrase that I often hear about bands like POWERWOLF is “once you’ve heard one album by them, you’ve heard them all”. This often implies there aren’t any surprises and you know instantly what you’re getting. In POWERWOLF’s case; yes they have their signature sound where you know instantly it’s them within a few seconds of just one of their tracks, however their albums continue to offer up unexpected surprises that keep us on our toes. POWERWOLF are remarkable at what they do and Call Of The Wild is further proof of this.
Note: When experiencing this; be prepared to say amen, don those holy robes and answer to the Call Of The Wild.
Rating: 10/10
Words: Lotty Whittingham
Call Of The Wild is out now.
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