POWERWOLF - Bible Of The Beast

12 songs
47:49 minutes
***** ****
Metal Blade

Bandpage

Every two years, German metal band Powerwolf pamper us with a new great album. After Return In Blood (2005) and Lupus Dei (2007), they are back with their third record Bible Of The Beast. Once again, they don’t even try to avoid any stylistic clichés and attack like usually Catholicism, which has become a welcome trademark of Powerwolf.

The CD starts with wolf howls, before a creepy organ and majestic choirs join in. Normally I am not so fond of intros, but Powerwolf instantly set a fitting horror mood. Although they work very traditionally, you have to admit that they are excellent songwriters. Their classic heavy metal incorporates grand symphonic movements, and the vocals couldn’t have turned out to be more harmonic. Front man Attila Dorn is in possession of one the most powerful voices inside (and outside) the German metal scene. The guitars complement this with wonderful melodies that sometimes remind of Iron Maiden. There is an ideal balance between faster pieces like Midnight Messiah and Catholic In The Morning… Satanist At Night, and darker dramatic material like Moscow After Dark and Wolves Against The World which concludes the album. These are joined by authentic metal hymns that should have the hearts of the true metal community beat faster. Sometimes you even get the impression that Powerwolf are not always taking themselves too seriously, like on Werewolves Of Armenia which has a few parts reminding of German schlager band Dschingis Khan.

Bible Of The Beast is without a doubt a timeless metal document. If you have a sense of humour, you will amuse or scare yourself, depending on your mood, royally for three quarters of on hour.