After being introduced to Powerwolf back at Bloodstock 2019 ing the mighty Sabaton I became instantly hooked, so as soon as I could I had to see them on tour, and boy was I in for a surprise.
Standard start to any metal gig within the UK… Pub! Swift pint in At World’s End and of course The Dev followed by some ominous food in Camden Market, still alive so doing well. This led to the queue for the venue and by God was it a long one. I think it was even longer than seeing Amon Amarth three years ago at Brixton Academy. That being said I did manage to see the first half of ENG v WAL so had its perks
After a good 45 minutes we finally made it through the doors and straight to the bar with moments to spare, for as soon as our gig pints were raised Warkings began their set. I have personally never seen Warkings live but after their performance I’m already looking forward to when the grace the presence of a stage once more. We had gladiators, spartans, vikings, and crusaders. What more could any metal head want? Oh wait… a guest appearance by Melissa Bonny (Ad Infinitum) as Queen of the Damned. This collaboration really did bring a whole new depth for the band and I can’t wait to hear new releases with her growl alongside them. Overall, their performance was top class, the only let down for me was that I knew what was coming next. As good they were, a shadow was looming over them with the excitement known as Powerwolf.
But wait, this is Powerwolf’s Wolfsnächte Tour, so surely next up should be the amazing Dragonforce… alas this was not the case. There were, I believe, three shows where they were unable to perform and The Roundhouse, London was one of them. I was most certainly absolutely gutted.
A quick toilet trip later with a detour back via the bar, and the time finally arrived. The stage was engulfed with a giant curtain with Powerwolf’s logo front and centre, and through the curtain we could see fire, six torches in fact across the stage had been lit creating an eerie glow barely visible through the cloth. Before we knew it the 30ft curtain dropped to the floor revealing what can only be described as a scene from the dungeons in the Red Keep of Game of Thrones, and in the centre at the rear a giant portcullis with a medieval/gothic frame at the top.
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But then something happened that I most certainly did not expect, this amazing backdrop that I was already impressed with started to move as the portcullis began to raise slowly to the top, and with that entered the of Powerwolf one by one from each side of the stage. Starting with the drummer Roel Van Helden and keyboardist Christian Jost (Falk Maria Schlegel), then shortly after guitarists Benjamin Buss (Matthew Greywolf) and David Vogt (Charles Greywolf) all taking the centre stage while the crowd erupted each time. Finally, the man himself, lead vocalist Karsten Brill (Attila Dorn).
Moments after they stood on the centre podium we felt the intense heat from numerous flames multiple times and an explosion of pyrotechnics from the ceiling as Powerwolf belted into their first song “Faster than the Flame”. Behind them the backdrop changed from the portcullis to a cloaked werewolf holding a lantern in one hand and a large scythe in the other, and yet again there was movement as if the werewolf was walking while in the background you could clearly see figures carrying a coffin through what appeared to be a graveyard. At this point at least three quarters of the standing crowd were all jumping in excitement along with the music. Powerwolf had arrived on stage in spectacular fashion
They hit us with all their greatest work with “Amen and Attack” four songs in and “Dancing with the Dead” immediately afterwards, then “Demons are a Girl’s Best Friend” and “Fire and Forgive”. With every song they played throughout the evening the backdrop changed to a new image from a werewolf wearing a human mask, to sailing a ship and even sitting on a throne surrounded by half naked nuns worshipping him at his feet (bet you can guess which song that was). It would appear that some of these images were taken from their album art and, oh my, did they all look impressive, with every single image moving in similar ways. For me the best animation had to be during “Let There be Night” where we had a moon rising slowly up behind Attila throughout the entirety of the song.
Did Attila have his usual high standard of stage presence? Did he keep to his impeccable standard of audience participation? Did he have the whole crowd eating out of his hands? The answer to all three of these question in its simplistic form… YES! He split the crowd in half and had us battling it out to see who could sing louder, we had our torches on our phones raised for their power ballet “Where Have the Wild Wolves Gone?” and even pitted the women against the men. He also made sure he kept the seated of audience involved and got them battling it out against us in the standing area. Needless to say, they lost.
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From “Faster than Flame” through to “Let There be Night” their set was flawless and seeing Powerwolf headlining I am not sure I would want to see it any other way. They owned that stage and they filled the venue with their music. The only thing letting it down was my broken voice screaming away to their songs. But that didn’t stop me from chanting along wanting more, we wanted an encore, we wanted more songs, we demanded more and Powerwolf happily obliged.
To end the night they didn’t just give us one song, not even two, but three more. They reopened with “Sanctified with Dynamite” followed by “We drink Your Blood” and finally the one song that I had been waiting for, “Werewolves of Armenia”. Each song just as good as the last from start to finish. After this they thanked London and blessed us all before leaving the stage with one final image on the back drop. A Powerwolf flag crossing The Union Flag and underneath were the words “Thank you London”. A fitting end to the show as Powerwolf as a band are so humble when they perform. They love to please the crowd and it truly feels that they don’t do this for themselves, they do it for us and for that I am most certainly thankful.
Come back soon, Powerwolf, and next time please bring Dragonforce. I’m begging you with my horns raised!
Header image by Matteo Vdiva Fabbiani
