In the small world of metal music, it is now a safe bet. Almost two decades after its formation, Powerwolf is now playing in the big leagues. His eighth studio album, “Call of the Wild”, released a few days ago, is a hit everywhere (2nd in his country, Germany) and, with a pretty 60th position in the ranking established by the SNEP, it is was for the week of July 23 the best-selling metal disc in France. The Hexagon that the German formation likes: it tours regularly with us, and will be headlining at the Zénith in Paris on October 7th.
A concert during which Powerwolf will not fail to play (in French version?) His latest single, “Beast of Gévaudan”, devoted, as its name suggests, to this 18th century news item. One of the great moments of the last disc, which offers, via short titles (the longest culminating at 4 minutes 23), eleven songs built on catchy riffs and powerful choirs, the hallmark of musicians. The latter are never appreciated better than on stage, Powerwolf displaying impressive make-up and costumes, in addition to an undeniable sense of decorum. Meeting with Falk Maria Schlegel, keyboardist.
Before releasing this new studio album, you offered a best of, and reissued your album “Metallum Nostrum”, from 2015. Was it a way to get yourself some vacation?
FALK MARIA SCHLEGEL. After our previous studio albums, we’ve always been on long tours. In France, where we are doing very well, it is our biggest market after Germany, but also in Russia and South America. That’s our routine, a lot of concerts after the release of a record. But it is true that, there, about a year and a half passed, which allowed us to compose new songs. We are always busy, we are never bored. I can’t even remember the last time I had a real vacation, doing nothing!
Your press kit is very enthusiastic about your new album, talking about a “new chapter” or an “unprecedented stylistic advance”. You confirm ?
I like this kind of comments (laughs). We just finished the album. And now is the period when we are asked to explain what we wanted to do. Of course, we would never come out with something we weren’t satisfied with! A week before the start of the recording, the containment measures began and it became very hard to work. That’s why, when we finished the record, everyone was very enthusiastic.
The first single of your new album is called “Beast of Gévaudan”, and therefore draws its inspiration from the history of France. Can you tell us about its genesis?
Powerwolf draws a lot of inspiration for his songs from historical facts, legends, religious myths. And we live near the French border. We had already had the idea for ten years to do something with the story of the beast of Gévaudan, but we did not have the song that could go with it. We made a French version. François Blanc, who is a journalist in the rock press and has also been a good friend for years, helped us write the lyrics. We tried to translate them into French ourselves, but we were not sure of the result. Somehow, it’s also a way of paying tribute to our fans in France.
This new album therefore includes a song evoking France, but also another which takes place in Ireland, another in Romania. We had never traveled so much in one of your albums before. What happened ?
It just happened like that, it wasn’t planned. In any case, it was not a concept planned in advance. If you want to read the lyrics in detail, and find similarities there, it’s up to you, but that’s not really what we wanted to do. Our goal is entertainment, we are a live band.
Your songs are all quite short, whereas in the past you offered long, ambitious pieces …
These long pieces were often located at the end of the album, like a kind of trip in which we take the listener. This time, we chose to put our slightly more ambitious title, the ballad “Alive or Undead”, in the middle of the album, between two very strong passages. It wasn’t really premeditated, we felt it like that, but maybe on the next album there will be a long track that will close the record again.
EDITOR’S RATING: 3.5 / 5
« Call of the Wild », Powerwolf (Napalm Records). In concert on October 7 at the Zénith in Paris.
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