I'll be completely honest right off the bat: Powerwolf has many of the components that makes me so ill-disposed towards other metal bands. This makes my love affair with this German group all the more ironic.
They've got it all?the religious irreverence, the dimestore Satanism, the poser vampire/werewolf aesthetic, and laughably cheesy album covers lampooning religious iconography. But something about their great production and catchy hooks makes it impossible for me to hate them.
The same can be said of Powerwolf's most recent offering, Blood of the Saints, but for different reasons. I should hate it because of all the reasons listed above and more, and yet something about it is so appealing I can?t bring myself to hate it. That does not mean, however, that I am incapable of giving it an honest review.
The album starts out with the song "Sanctified with Dynamite". It?s a good song overall, despite having one of the few consistent problems present in the band's other work, that problem being awkward changes in tempo from one movement to the next. It's actually a good song, with a catchy hook, nice prog-metal style drums, and as is always true for this band, good use of organs.
The next song is the album's only single-bait thus far, but still a solid song. "We Drink Your Blood" has been a staple of my small select favorites playlist since I first acquired it. After this song, though, is where the whole album goes downhill.
It?s not because of lack of quality, it?s just that almost every single song after the first two is almost identical in some way to one from one of their previous albums. Whether it be intros, riffs, or choruses, there is positively nothing new here. To new listeners the songs will probably be awesome, but to fans of the group (what few there are) nothing particularly different from the norm will be on offer.
Take, for instance, the song "Saturday Satan" from their album Lupus Dei, supplied below.
After about a minute of listening to that fairly awesome (if cheesy) piece of metal music, listen to a bit of this one from Blood of the Saints.
You'll notice many similarities: the same distortion on the guitar chords in the opening, the quiet tone of that opening, and even the riff that comes after are remarkably alike.
The two songs are even lyrically similar to one another, being about the devil (gasp) doing devilish things (double gasp). Big whoop.
In short, everything after track two is a blatant retread of material from previous albums, from the ironic and mocking Latin choruses to the prominent pipe organ parts, and even lyrical content. Granted, it's a more polished version of the stuff this band has released so far, but that?s about all that can be said.
In terms of a recommendation, I can only honestly recommend this album to fans of rock or metal who have never heard a Powerwolf album. Anyone who has will no doubt experience a feeling of "been there, done that".
In terms of the weakest and strongest songs on the album, the former dubious honor belongs to the utterly silly and boring "Dead Boys Don?t Cry", and the strongest is probably the aforementioned opening track, "Sanctified with Dynamite".
It?s a shame there was so little in this album that was different enough to warrant attention; after three years of relative silence from the group, it would have been nice to hear something a little more original, even if it was by no means groundbreaking. At this rate, those of the band's fans who are situated across the Atlantic will never be enough of a going concern to warrant a North American tour. Perhaps their next effort will go some way towards righting this grievous wrong.