Title: Has The Year Of The Wolf Begun?
Description: Powerwolf interview...
Description: Powerwolf interview...
kilgortrout - October 7, 2005 12:01 AM (GMT)
The first interview of the WTD Magazine is now online ladies and gentlemen!
It was done quite some time ago and printed in Turkish in Rock Station Magazine. Now for the first time the original version is published. :)
The interview is done with Falk Maria Schlegel of German Band Powerwolf.
The debut album of Powerwolf hit the stores on April the 4th. What are you doing since that day, what kind of reactions have you got from both metal media and listeners? Has the year of the wolf begun?
It definetely has begun! The album is just out since a few months and we already get a huge lot of reactions from fans and journalists, that´s great! It's unbelievable! Morevoer, a lot of girls seem to like Powerwolf, ha,ha.
There are lots of people who have no idea about Powerwolf, so would you please describe your music and your band to them?
They will hear it soon, ha, ha. I would describe our music as classical Heavy Metal, with doomy riffs, huge hammond organ and an alternative voice. I mean a not usual voice for german/rumanian metal band. The band was formed by the Greywolf brothers Charles and Matthew. They met Attila in Rumania in a bar. I think it was destiny… After that me (Falk Maria) and Stefane met the band and so the mighty Powerwolf arised.
As Powerwolf is a new band, asking "where does your band name come from" is a "must" for every single interviewer. So how did you end up calling your band Powerwolf?
Is it really a must? A lot of people ask us if we choose that name after we had called the band Powerwolf. Well, the truth is that it's the other way 'round: Greywolf indeed IS the real name af Charles and Matthew, and this is why we called the band Powerwolf. It was Attila's idea. His first idea was to call the band Greywolf, but the two brothers didn't want to, as to us this would have sounded like some kind of ego tripping solo project stuff. Attila then insisted on having at least the "Wolf" element in the bands name as for him a wolf is a symbol for pride and strength. We added "power" as this is one of the basic features of our music and so we had Powerwolf.
Attila met with the Greywolf bros. and start working on Powerwolf's music? Can you please tell us more about the story behind the band? How did things happen?
The Greywolfs met Attila in Romania and they talked about music. Attila studied classical opera vocals at the academy in Bucharesti in Romania. After that he made some money singing in different musicals and operas. He still like that but it was a job, not really passion. You know, Attila is not involved in the metal scene for a long time yet. But then he heard an Iron Maiden tape some years ago, he was dreaming to form a professional Metal Band and he founded one in Powerwolf. After a few rehearsal, the band knew, that there is a certain magic between the band members.
Your debut is released through Metal Blade records. Did they find you or did you find Metal Blade to release your album? To cut it short why Metal Blade?
Metal Blade heard that there´s a strange band forming and they felt that there´s something special around that strange band with that Romanian singer, so they invited us, we met and spent some time talking about music and our visions, we realized that we have a lot of points in common and we signed. A very simple story. In my opinion is Metal Blade the best company for our music. They are doing a great job and are working with a huge enthusiasm. You have to know, we were allowed to choose the record studio for ourselves (Studio Fredman) and that for a newcomer band… Great!
As you said you've recorded the album at studio Fredman with legendary producer Fredrik Nordström, how was the recording process? It must be a great oppurtunity to record your first album with him. Many bands don't get this kind of chances.
Yeah, it was great. A big thank to Metal Blade, who gave us this oppurtunity. We produced that album together with Fredrik Nordström (In Flames, Soilwork, Hammerfall…) and Fritz Klitmueller. Fredrik is a real metal head. He listened to the songs "Kiss of the Cobra King" or "We came to take your souls" and he directly knew, how this stuff has to sound! And a big advantage is, that this great producer don't made only one typical sound. Listen to the Soilwork stuff and compare that with the Spiritual Beggars "Ad Astra" CD. He is always able to gave a band that sound, what the band deserves. The cooperation was just perfect and we´re absolutely happy with the production.
The songs in Return In Bloodred, are very catchy and at the meantime still very heavy. Can we say that this is some kind of a trademark of Powerwolf?
Yesss, you've got it. That is the trademark on "Return in bloodred". One of my favourite song is "Kiss of the cobra king"..., catchy refrain, hard riffing, metal choir... everything you want....
"Son Of The Morning Star", the last track on the album, is really different from the others, very theatrical, what is the story behind that song? Also "The Evil Made Me Do It" is very Black Sabbath-ish, are they one of your biggest influences?
As you know, Attila is a classical singer. In "Son of the morning star" he uses a more classical way of singing, and we´ll probably use more of these parts in the future. You have certainly recognized that there a extracts from the bible, the Revelation chapter. In German we say "Johannes Evangelium". Listen exactly and you can hear the link to Attila's character.
What is all about the vampire image that you use in your promo photos and stuff? Is it just because you're from Romania or do you really into vampire myths and culture?
Yes, it is because Attila comes from Romania. Since he was a child he was fascinated by ancient Romanian stories and legends, and in the meantime he has probably read hundreds of book about them. We added Attila´s passion for this mythology and combined that with our sound. We west europeen people know these creatures and stories from the typical horror movies, but being Romanian Attila sees these things from a different point of view. He hates all these movies because as he says they don´t tell the truth, they make cheap horror sensations out of traditional stories that mean a lot to Romanian people. So Attila sees his lyrics as a channel to deliver a Romanian point of view on these things. And that is not possible in every day clothing. Moreover we want to deliver the best possible entertainment to our fans, and for us this also means to deliver a good visual concept. We play the music with passion and we want to add something to the music and this is the optical element. I hate this bands, who plays their music in daily clothes. It is boring.
What are the near future plans for Powerwolf? Apart from becoming very well known rock stars? :)
For autumn our booking agency Dragon Production (a division of A.S.S.) plan to play a full tour, but there´s nothing confirmed yet. We don´t want to jump on the first tour we might get offered, as we want to make sure the the conditions are good enough to deliver a good show. We will rather not play any tour at all than ending up on an eight band package tour, where each band gets kicked on stage for some 20 minutes without any stage show and concept. For us the visual presentation is very important and we want our fans to get a good show, and we want to make sure to be able to deliver what our fans deserve - but I´m quite confident that around autumn the call of the powerwolf will be heard on many stages across Europe!!!!
And the last question: you guys really sound like Red Aim (vocal lines, riffing style), look like Red Aim, even all the photography style looks like Red Aim, You are from the same label, and as a big fan of Red Aim, I really wonder; are you the same guys from Red Aim?? or am I being too paranoid?
Isn´t everybody a little bit paranoid? ;-)
As the last words of this interview what would you like to tell WTD's readers?
Watch out for the Powerwolfs, listen to our music and howl with the wolves at www.powerwolf.net and we will come to take your souls….
It was done quite some time ago and printed in Turkish in Rock Station Magazine. Now for the first time the original version is published. :)
The interview is done with Falk Maria Schlegel of German Band Powerwolf.
The debut album of Powerwolf hit the stores on April the 4th. What are you doing since that day, what kind of reactions have you got from both metal media and listeners? Has the year of the wolf begun?
It definetely has begun! The album is just out since a few months and we already get a huge lot of reactions from fans and journalists, that´s great! It's unbelievable! Morevoer, a lot of girls seem to like Powerwolf, ha,ha.
There are lots of people who have no idea about Powerwolf, so would you please describe your music and your band to them?
They will hear it soon, ha, ha. I would describe our music as classical Heavy Metal, with doomy riffs, huge hammond organ and an alternative voice. I mean a not usual voice for german/rumanian metal band. The band was formed by the Greywolf brothers Charles and Matthew. They met Attila in Rumania in a bar. I think it was destiny… After that me (Falk Maria) and Stefane met the band and so the mighty Powerwolf arised.
As Powerwolf is a new band, asking "where does your band name come from" is a "must" for every single interviewer. So how did you end up calling your band Powerwolf?
Is it really a must? A lot of people ask us if we choose that name after we had called the band Powerwolf. Well, the truth is that it's the other way 'round: Greywolf indeed IS the real name af Charles and Matthew, and this is why we called the band Powerwolf. It was Attila's idea. His first idea was to call the band Greywolf, but the two brothers didn't want to, as to us this would have sounded like some kind of ego tripping solo project stuff. Attila then insisted on having at least the "Wolf" element in the bands name as for him a wolf is a symbol for pride and strength. We added "power" as this is one of the basic features of our music and so we had Powerwolf.
Attila met with the Greywolf bros. and start working on Powerwolf's music? Can you please tell us more about the story behind the band? How did things happen?
The Greywolfs met Attila in Romania and they talked about music. Attila studied classical opera vocals at the academy in Bucharesti in Romania. After that he made some money singing in different musicals and operas. He still like that but it was a job, not really passion. You know, Attila is not involved in the metal scene for a long time yet. But then he heard an Iron Maiden tape some years ago, he was dreaming to form a professional Metal Band and he founded one in Powerwolf. After a few rehearsal, the band knew, that there is a certain magic between the band members.
Your debut is released through Metal Blade records. Did they find you or did you find Metal Blade to release your album? To cut it short why Metal Blade?
Metal Blade heard that there´s a strange band forming and they felt that there´s something special around that strange band with that Romanian singer, so they invited us, we met and spent some time talking about music and our visions, we realized that we have a lot of points in common and we signed. A very simple story. In my opinion is Metal Blade the best company for our music. They are doing a great job and are working with a huge enthusiasm. You have to know, we were allowed to choose the record studio for ourselves (Studio Fredman) and that for a newcomer band… Great!
As you said you've recorded the album at studio Fredman with legendary producer Fredrik Nordström, how was the recording process? It must be a great oppurtunity to record your first album with him. Many bands don't get this kind of chances.
Yeah, it was great. A big thank to Metal Blade, who gave us this oppurtunity. We produced that album together with Fredrik Nordström (In Flames, Soilwork, Hammerfall…) and Fritz Klitmueller. Fredrik is a real metal head. He listened to the songs "Kiss of the Cobra King" or "We came to take your souls" and he directly knew, how this stuff has to sound! And a big advantage is, that this great producer don't made only one typical sound. Listen to the Soilwork stuff and compare that with the Spiritual Beggars "Ad Astra" CD. He is always able to gave a band that sound, what the band deserves. The cooperation was just perfect and we´re absolutely happy with the production.
The songs in Return In Bloodred, are very catchy and at the meantime still very heavy. Can we say that this is some kind of a trademark of Powerwolf?
Yesss, you've got it. That is the trademark on "Return in bloodred". One of my favourite song is "Kiss of the cobra king"..., catchy refrain, hard riffing, metal choir... everything you want....
"Son Of The Morning Star", the last track on the album, is really different from the others, very theatrical, what is the story behind that song? Also "The Evil Made Me Do It" is very Black Sabbath-ish, are they one of your biggest influences?
As you know, Attila is a classical singer. In "Son of the morning star" he uses a more classical way of singing, and we´ll probably use more of these parts in the future. You have certainly recognized that there a extracts from the bible, the Revelation chapter. In German we say "Johannes Evangelium". Listen exactly and you can hear the link to Attila's character.
What is all about the vampire image that you use in your promo photos and stuff? Is it just because you're from Romania or do you really into vampire myths and culture?
Yes, it is because Attila comes from Romania. Since he was a child he was fascinated by ancient Romanian stories and legends, and in the meantime he has probably read hundreds of book about them. We added Attila´s passion for this mythology and combined that with our sound. We west europeen people know these creatures and stories from the typical horror movies, but being Romanian Attila sees these things from a different point of view. He hates all these movies because as he says they don´t tell the truth, they make cheap horror sensations out of traditional stories that mean a lot to Romanian people. So Attila sees his lyrics as a channel to deliver a Romanian point of view on these things. And that is not possible in every day clothing. Moreover we want to deliver the best possible entertainment to our fans, and for us this also means to deliver a good visual concept. We play the music with passion and we want to add something to the music and this is the optical element. I hate this bands, who plays their music in daily clothes. It is boring.
What are the near future plans for Powerwolf? Apart from becoming very well known rock stars? :)
For autumn our booking agency Dragon Production (a division of A.S.S.) plan to play a full tour, but there´s nothing confirmed yet. We don´t want to jump on the first tour we might get offered, as we want to make sure the the conditions are good enough to deliver a good show. We will rather not play any tour at all than ending up on an eight band package tour, where each band gets kicked on stage for some 20 minutes without any stage show and concept. For us the visual presentation is very important and we want our fans to get a good show, and we want to make sure to be able to deliver what our fans deserve - but I´m quite confident that around autumn the call of the powerwolf will be heard on many stages across Europe!!!!
And the last question: you guys really sound like Red Aim (vocal lines, riffing style), look like Red Aim, even all the photography style looks like Red Aim, You are from the same label, and as a big fan of Red Aim, I really wonder; are you the same guys from Red Aim?? or am I being too paranoid?
Isn´t everybody a little bit paranoid? ;-)
As the last words of this interview what would you like to tell WTD's readers?
Watch out for the Powerwolfs, listen to our music and howl with the wolves at www.powerwolf.net and we will come to take your souls….
deity - October 7, 2005 08:07 AM (GMT)
kilgortrout; do you always feel like somebody is watching you :P
perfect question to end the interview, funny :D
and girls? like powerwolf? with this image?
i havent heard their music but the girls must like their music not themselves :D
and i am not sure if i missed the line telling who is Attila in the begining but after seeing his name in nearly every answer, i finally saw what i was looking for, in Son Of The Morning Star's answer, Attila is the singer!!! :lol:
perfect question to end the interview, funny :D
and girls? like powerwolf? with this image?
i havent heard their music but the girls must like their music not themselves :D
and i am not sure if i missed the line telling who is Attila in the begining but after seeing his name in nearly every answer, i finally saw what i was looking for, in Son Of The Morning Star's answer, Attila is the singer!!! :lol:
kilgortrout - October 7, 2005 07:18 PM (GMT)
i thought adding a little dose of mystery would make the intie better so never mentioned who's who in the band from the start :)
oops i think i heard something!! is there anybody over there behind the curtain?? am i paraonid?? yes i am? :P
oops i think i heard something!! is there anybody over there behind the curtain?? am i paraonid?? yes i am? :P
zakk - October 12, 2005 10:35 PM (GMT)
The intie has got a good craft but I dunno anything about the band... guess I'd prefer Power Rangers instead :blink: