Corpse-painted Germans Powerwolf have never been a band to do things by half, and so they prove again on blustering fifth album, Preachers Of The Night (Napalm Records). A play on the KISS album title Creatures Of The Night, Preachers… is an all-out, non-stop charge of metal.
After the shaky 2005 debut Return In Bloodred, Powerwolf have been generating consistently superb power metal culminating in the excellent Blood Of The Saints a couple of years ago. Hard to imagine it could be ignored although, largely, it was. Not so this time around.
Like fellow German power pushers Helloween, Powerwolf believe that the more drama present the better. The opening blast of ‘Amen & Attack’ with machine gunning guitars and hammering drums sets the grand wheels in motion.
As always, along with the military precision of the guitars the diamond in the pack is Atila Dorn’s stirring voice. Throw a dart at any track and a fine vocal display will await your ears, but the soaring, bold ‘Coleus Sanctus’ and the rousing ‘Nochnoi Dozor’ offer huge choruses that demand to be heard loud. The magnificently grandiose march of ‘Last Of The Living Dead’ rounds off an immense album.
This is the first album proper with new drummer (all others are original members) Roel van Helden and his metronomic-like ability is prone to flashes of bluster but the showmanship is kept to a relative minimum.
In a market where new bands are really prospering and established bands are seeing a resurgence in popularity, Preachers Of The Night is as extravagant as career followers would expect and as brilliant as newcomers would hope. It could put Powerwolf at the head of the pack.
8/10
Dan Bond