Double Review: Powerwolf - The Sacrament Of Sin

Hear me out; Powerwolf is a lot like Motorhead. No, they don't sound anything alike, but both bands are groups who created a core sound early in the career, and then continued to deliver that same thing again and again. For the fans, it means you know you're almost always going to like what you hear. For the doubters, it gives them something else to complain about. With Powerwolf, I fall somewhere in the middle. I find their werewolves and vampires schtick to be entertaining, and I always enjoy hearing them, but their music is also in that lot where I don't find myself compelled to listen to it very often, mainly because it always feels exactly the same. Their previous album, "Blessed & Possessed", was probably my favorite so far, and included a few songs that did stand the test of time with me, so this new one has something to live up to.

The album was teased by two singles, "Fire & Forgive" and "Demons Are A Girl's Best Friend", which just so happen to be the first two tracks. Both of them caught my ear, as they are among the better tracks the band has been putting forward; layered with epic organs, having tongue-in-cheek, and delivering catchy melodies that only an operatic power metal werewolf can... apparently. The latter track, in particular, sounds to me like what Lordi would be doing if they made their humor less slapstick.

Ghost has gotten a lot of criticism for their song "Dance Macabre", which people have accused of being a dance song in rocking guise. I could level the same claim at "Killers With The Cross", but that line of thought misses the point. This Powerwolf song, like Ghost's effort, is a riot to listen to. So what if you can dance along with the chorus? Why is that a bad thing? Even horror movies are allowed to have comic relief.

The trend I've noticed, having written about several album cycles from Powerwolf, is that while they haven't changed their sound up one iota, they have been getting better at more consistently delivering heavy hitters. They have enough experience behind them now to know what does and doesn't work, and that translates to albums that have been getting better. I mentioned their last album being my favorite as of yet, which I now have to qualify by saying "The Sacrament Of Sin" is even better. Powerwolf isn't done upping their game just yet.

Of particular note is the ballad "Where The Wild Wolves Have Gone", which is a song I'm not sure they could have pulled off before. It has a sweeping build to it, and the slower pace makes it sound truly cinematic when the strings and horns burnish the chorus. It's absolutely Powerwolf at their best. It's a completely different take on metallic balladry than "Let Their Be Light" was on the last album, which shows Powerwolf has more range than they get credit for.

"The Sacrament Of Sin" is a record that uses its instrumentation to create a sound that is truly massive, dark, and haunting. Sabaton gets most of the credit when it comes to bombastic power metal, but I've never heard Sabaton live up to their source material the way Powerwolf does here.

Powerwolf may always read from the same playbook, but they have refined their approach over the years, to the point where "The Sacrament Of Sin" is their best album yet. Even if you think you already know Powerwolf, you need to give this album a listen, because it's boiled down the best of the band's history into a killer forty-odd minutes of ludicrous power metal. Highly recommended.

Chris C

****

I think I’m starting to sense a trend with Powerwolf releases. 2011 saw the release of “Blood of the Saints,” which instantly became the gold standard for Powerwolf and the high water mark for the genre of power metal as we entered boldly into the ‘10s. Two years later we heard “Preachers of the Night” which was…fine. There was nothing bad about it, excepting maybe the cover art that vaguely resembled the Big Bad Wolf costumed in grandma’s night clothes waiting for Little Red Riding Hood, but there was also nothing revolutionary or especially inspiring about it. Again, a two year gap, and then “Blessed and Possessed,” an album that established the high water mark all over again. And now…

…”The Sacrament of Sin.” And it’s….fine. Unfortunately, that may be all it is. And you have to give it some credit, because it’s clearly trying real hard, but leveraged against the previous album, and the catalogue that came before it, there’s not much here to write home about.

Before we get hasty, let’s clarify a little – this is a Powerwolf album, so it does boast some memorable moments. There’s a three song set in the middle of the record that shows us the best strengths of Powerwolf right in a row. It begins with “Incense and Iron,” which works because of the sheer, transmissible charisma of Attila Dorn’s vocals and the band’s ability to write impossibly giant hook choruses. From a musical standpoint, there’s not even that much going on, but the melody, operating in conjunction with the gang vocals makes for a rousing listen. There are few bands who can so ably convey their magnetic personalities into a recorded experience, but Powerwolf has mastered the secret.

This dovetails into “Where the Wild Wolves Have Gone,” which is the kind of song only Powerwolf can pull off without seeming hokey. The song’s gravitas is melodramatic even by the lofty standards of the band singing the song, but in reflexive fashion, that’s what makes it work; the song is so far over the top that it transcends mere melodrama and becomes something indefinable. It’s also annoying good at being an earwig, which means you’ll end up explaining the song, and by extension Powerwolf, to your coworkers. Good luck.

And then the sequence closes with “Stossgebet,” and now we get just a taste of the Teutonic power and precision that so capably represents all the German metal bands of all stripes. Couple that with Powerwolf’s natural flair and excellent sense of the beat, and you get a track with punchy delivery and memorable stanzas.

That’s three songs out of eleven, though, and the other eight aren’t bad, but they’re not worth mentioning, either. “The Sacrament of Sin” suffers more for what it lacks than for what it possesses – there is no adrenaline-infused “Dead Boys Don’t Cry,” no blood-pumping “Higher Than Heaven.” This record is much more measured, with no room for that kind of delivery, which is ultimately to its detriment. “Venom of Venus” comes the closest, but is content to sit in third gear.

Two notes before closing. First, It could be me, I may be losing my mind, but this record seems seeded through with just the barest hint of concession to arena rock. Powerwolf has always danced with this devil, but there’s something about the even pacing of the downbeats and the construction of the harmonies that makes one narrow the eyes, wondering if the relationship has gotten tighter.
Second, and this is no small thing. I know I spent a lot of time in this review telling you that Powerwolf failed to live up to their own lofty benchmarks, but it does bear noting that these gentlemen are one of the few, if not the only, power metal band still making interesting music. The genre as a whole has stagnated in the new millennium, except for this small band of German rogues who are pushing the envelope. They are to be commended; that’s not easy after fifteen years together.

So, “The Sacrament of Sin,” isn’t an all-time classic, but it’s a perfectly adequate album made by professionals who measured their stride and tried to concentrate on the presence of their songs more than the prowess in them.

And to come full circle, if the pattern holds, their next album will be a blockbuster.

D:M