We want people to sing along and party

Now this was one of the more fun responses I got back to an email interview. Where it comes to emailers, usually you don’t know who in the band is going to answer the questions. You just draft your questions and it’s a surprise what you get back. Where it comes to Powerwolf, their response shows they have a great sense of humor. The band is about to release their DVD “The Metal Mass Live”, and apparently my questions were answered by Roel van Helden, the band’s drummer!

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us! It’s great to welcome the mighty Powerwolf in one of our issues. You’ve been touring a lot already this year, how are things on the road?

Thanks! Things are going great. I can truly say that things have never been better for Powerwolf. We are a tight group of good friends who are having a blast on the road. Meanwhile we have gathered a great crew to accompany us on the road and make it possible for us to concentrate on putting on the best live shows we can. The whole summer is booked with festival shows, a Scandinavia tour is set for fall and in January we’ll be doing an extensive European tour with our friends from Epica.

We happened to catch your performance at this year’s Graspop festival. How is your voice doing now?

Thanks for asking! My voice is doing great. But then again, I’m the drummer so my voice doesn’t suffer that much on tour… My hand however are covered with blisters and calluses…

You’re about to release your live DVD, The Metal Mass Live. Your shows are always fun to watch. What would you say makes your performances stand out?

We put a lot of effort into the visual aspects of a show. I believe when fans pay with their hard earned money for a ticket to see you, you should entertain them! Make sure there’s something to see. I also think people can see that we are having a good time on stage. We certainly can see that the fans are having a great time celebrating the Metal Mass.

This is your first live DVD, but in what way is the live material we find on this release different from your previous two live albums?

We didn’t release any real live albums up until now. Maybe you are talking about the limited live CD “Alive in the Night” which came with an issue of German magazine Metal Hammer or the bonus DVD which came with a limited edition of the album “Bible of the Beast”? Both these releases are from a long time ago already, so the setlist has changed quite a bit. Plus this is the first proper official release made with a decent budget to give the fans the quality that they deserve!

How would you describe a Powerwolf show for the ones that have yet to see you?

It’s a celebration of the music we all love; Heavy Metal! Set in a religious scene with our front-Priest Attila Dorn leading the Holy Mass.
 
Your whole performance has been created around the Romanian werewolf legends. What’s the attraction for you in those legends?

Of course the band name refers to that. And we call ourselves a wolvepack because we are such a tight group of friends. But I don’t think werewolfs are that present in our lyrics and performance. We have a few songs on that topic, but there’s a lot more lyrical influences from the Bible. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not religious fanatics, not at all. But biblical themes just lend themselves perfectly for Heavy Metal.

Bands like yours and Ghost introduced quite a new view on organized religion to the metal masses. Where did you come up with the idea to turn metal into a religious experience?

It’s not our idea at all, Metal has been a religion or a way of life ever since it was invented! It’s an attitude! It’s rebellion! How else can you explain thousands of people taking  pilgrimages to shows like for instance Iron Maiden, decades long? Like many of our t-shirts say; Metal is a religion! BTW: we have been around longer than the colleagues from Ghost, ha. ha.

You created quite the distinct sound for yourself. When I hear a powerwolf song, I instantly recognize it. What are the minimum ingredients that any Powerwolf song should have?

When we write songs, they should be catchy. We want people to sing along and party to our music. We certainly won’t bore them with 15 minute songs. Our singer Attila Dorn has an Opera-trained voice so that’s very distinctive. Another main ingredient is our church organ, which is quite typical for Powerwolf. And of course the church organ.
 
If we were to make Powerwolf: The Motion Picture, what would the storyline be?

Five wolves who take on the world and fight for Heavy Metal!

You have been steadily cranking out new releases every two years. Does that mean we can expect a new record next year? What are you working on, any surprises on the horizon?

Don’t expect too much stylistic changes from us. We are true to our sound and true to our fans and we won’t betray them with suddenly changing our sound or selling out. We have worked hard to get to where we are and we’ve develloped a unique sound, so there’s no reason to throw that overboard. A new studio album probably won’t be released until 2018. We’ve been too busy touring.

Does having your own studio, Studio Greywolf, make it easier to create new music?

Of course it does. It’s always a good thing to have people within the band who master certain crafts besides playing their instrument. Also like Matthew Greywolf is our graphic designer who is responsible for t-shirt designs, album covers and stage design.

Your studio hosts a lot of other bands, most of them are unknown to us. Are there any special recommendations amongst those?

Our friends of Lonewolf always record their albums there. They’ve toured with us in the past and are really good. You should check them out.

What do you listen to yourself when you’re not busy writing or touring?

…Heavy Metal… what else? My first album I ever bought was Iron Maiden’s “Fear of the Dark” when I was 11 years old. After that came Anthrax, AC/DC, Danzig, Motörhead, Iced Earth and many many more.

Where will we able to see you on tour this year?

Just check out our tour section on Powerwolf.net of join our facebook site to keep you updated on our ever expanding touring agenda.

Any last words for our readers?

Thanks for your interest and check out our new live DVD//Blue Ray/CD/LP The Metal Mass. Stay METAL!