Rockezine.com interview with Powerwolf on Apr 26, 2005

with Matthew Greywolf on Apr 26, 2005


		Since Powerwolf is a relatively new band and not even the Metal Blade website seems to have any information and the included biography was also rather vague, could you briefly introduce the band to our readers? We’re Powerwolf and we come from out of nowhere – just like a wolf appears in the forest. There’s nothing important to know about the history of the band. What’s important is that now we’re here and we finally have our first album out. This is how we want to enter the scene. We have developed our own vision of how great metal should sound like since years, but we needed a lot of time to gather the right musicians to create something special. Now we’re ready and now we’re here.
		Your debut album “Return In Bloodred” will be released in April. Is there a special reason why the title features the word ‘Return’? It was Attila’s idea. Most of his lyrics deal with ancient Romanian legends and myths, and so he sees his lyrics on this album as the “return” of these myths, which aren’t so well spread nowadays. Attila is quite pissed off by all these typical Hollywood vampire or Dracula stories as according to him they have nothing in common with their real nature and origin. He sings about all these things as they are a part of his Romanian culture, and he sees himself in a certain way as a kind of messenger.
		How would you characterize the music of Powerwolf? It’s heavy metal. Call it as you like, we don’t care, but for us this is the essence of our personal taste of metal music.
		In your opinion what sets Powerwolf apart from all the other bands in the scene? I don’t know as I don’t know how other bands work, but what makes Powerwolf so special for me is that there’s a strong bound between the individual members of the tribe, some kind of magic I never felt playing with any other musicians. When we had our first rehearsal with Attila it was magical. We all had goose skin during the whole rehearsal. That’s what makes Powerwolf special for me. But what is special about Powerwolf for other people, that’s something I can’t really tell you as I see it all from the inside. But I think that our sound – even though of course it is not original and not meant to be original – has a very unique note.
		How did Metal Blade get involved with Powerwolf? They heard about that strange project going on with a German band and a Romanian singer, they got interested, we met, and a few minutes later it was sure we would work together. They’re as fanatic about metal as we are, and that’s important.
		What were you first reactions when you noticed that Metal Blade was interested in signing Powerwolf? We decided to meet them. Personal contact is important. For us it was clear from the beginning that we would only work with a record company if they’d really unconditionally believe in us. Metal Blade have become a part of the wolf tribe.
		Your singer, Attila Dorn, has a classical background and only recently became interested in metal. How do you think his ‘fresh’ outlook on metal has shaped and influenced the sound of Powerwolf? Attila’s voice is unusual. He’s not that typical heavy metal singer who’s influenced by hundreds of other metal singers and more or less tries to imitate them. He has a classical background, used to sing Wagner and stuff like that so he brought a lot of melodic influences into our sound we didn’t have in mind being typical metal musicians.
		How difficult was it for him to adept to the differences between metal and his classical vocal background? I think it was quite easy for him. He once told me that singing in the metal style is something that comes from his heart. For the classical stuff he has to concentrate and work hard. For the metal style he can just let out his feelings. I think technically it’s much easier for him to sing than the classical stuff he used to sing in Romania.
		Attila Dorn grew up in Romania, a country with a rich culture, and he brought his traditional inheritance into the music of Powerwolf. Are you satisfied with the way you have translated this atmosphere into music? Definitely. We didn’t have something like that in mind; Attila just came up with the idea, though it wasn’t really a planned idea. Attila started to sing and immediately filled the room with his aura and the lyrical concept he brought into the band was something very natural. I couldn’t imagine Attila singing about something else than his beloved Romanian legends, and I think he couldn’t either.
		Return in Bloodred opens with the howling of a wolf, something that reminds strongly of Moonspell (this feeling returns at certain parts in other songs as well). Is there any connection, or is it just pure coincidental? That must be coincidental, as I don’t know them. Recently a journalist told me in an interview that they have done a concept album about wolves some years ago. Well, maybe I should check it out…
		What bands have influenced Powerwolf the most? Speaking for me personally, I’m influenced by a lot of 80s metal outfits, such as Accept, Ozzy, Mercyful Fate or Venom. I always preferred the darker side of heavy metal with a strong image and the fascination for the evil. I always hated that typical happy metal stuff which is very popular again nowadays. For me metal has something to do with darkness and evil. Just listen to Black Sabbath – what heavier metal could you imagine?
		The excellent last track “Son Of The Morning Star” is more laidback and mellow compared to the rest of Return In Bloodred; is there a special story behind this song and will we hear more of these atmospheric tracks in the future? We wanted to write a special song to end the album. I love Black Sabbath and they always had strange unusual songs to end their early albums, and I think it’s a good way to end an album. So we asked Attila to use his classical voice for just one song. He didn’t want to at first, but when Charles and I came up with the idea for the song he got hooked and came up with this great epic vocal line. Then we developed the song on and on until we finally had this dramatic outro like symphonic part with the bible quotations. I still get a goose skin every time I listen to this song… but I can’t tell you if we’ll do more songs like this one in the future. We never plan anything. Either it happens or it doesn’t. But considering that we all love this song it’s quite likely there will be another songs like that one…
		Good luck with the release of Return in Bloodred! Is there anything left unsaid? Or is there anything in particular you would like to say to our readers and/or your fans? Check out “Return in bloodred” – we came to take your souls!!!!!!!
		(Frank van de Voorde)