1 – This new album is more into classic 80s Heavy Metal than the previous one which was more dark and filled with “spooky” melodies and passages. The gothic / vintage horror ambiences are still there but now it seems that you’re more focused into the harder side of your music. Did it just came up like this or did you really wanted to write music in this direction?
It developed. We never plan anything. It happens. You´re right, Lupus Dei is much more heavy and more metal than our debut. And it´s more catchy and striking, even though we still love Return in bloodred. I think a band should never record the same album twice.
2 – Are you satisfied with this new album, the songs, the recording process, production, final product?
Absolutely. We love it, it´s exactly what we had in mind, and right now I don´t know how we could top this one, haha…
3 – The lyrics in Powerwolf are as important as the music because it manages to parallel the visual side of the band. What kind of subjects influenced you to write the lyrics for “Lupus Dei”?
There´s a concept making the album a full circle: in the introduction “Lupus daemonis” the wolf, who´s the protagonist of the concept story, looses belief in everything, he struggles with god and finally descends. He becomes an evil creature being greedy “We take it from the living”, signs a contract with the devil “Saturday satan” and believes in nothing but blood anymore “In blood we trust”. During the album he starts seeing rays of light again, realizing the misleading practice of some religious groups “Mother mary is a bird of prey”, and finally witnesses god in the final “Lupus dei”.
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4 – The cover artwork for this record is simple but awesome. Who is responsible for the frontcover and what does it mean?The front cover was done by Niklas Sundin, I think he did a killer job! We wanted to envision the wolf in the moment he witnesses god.
-5 – You recorded some parts of the record in a chapel built in the 12th century. How did you came up with this idea? Did you wanted to capture the “spirit” of such an old place in your music?
Well, a good friend of us offered us the chance to use a small church built in the 12th century for some recordings. That church was located in the middle of nowhere in a forest, and the atmosphere was haunting. Exactly the surrounding we needed for an album like Lupus dei. You can´t compare recording in a studio to recording in a church – it´s so atmospheric and special that it can only be highly inspirative… the only disadvantage was that there was no heating system in the church and we recorded in January, with snow outside and temperatures at minus 10 degrees…
6 – You also recorded a couple of tracks with a 30 piece classical choir. Can you tell me about the experience? In which manner did the choir’s contribution added a new dimension to the music of Powerwolf?
It was fantastic, I mean, it´s an overwhelming moment when you´re standing in an empty church and 30 people are singing your songs – it was shivers down our spines the whole time we´ve been there. I think the choir really adds a new dimension to some of the songs. I mean: a lot of bands simply use samples or keyboards for that, but you can never reach the atmosphere and the density of a real choir singing your songs with that. It was a lot of work to get the choir convinced to sing for a heavy metal band, but it was definitely worth all the work!
7 – Do you have a tour prepared to promote the record?
We´ll play on some of the summer festivals now, and then play shows together with Grave Digger in Germany in autumn, and right now we´re into negotiations for a full European tour which should happen in autumn also – so watch out for the wolves!!!!!
8 – You can leave now a final message if you want to.
Thanx for reading – and prey for heavy metal everybody!
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Entrevistador: RDS
Entrevistado: Matthew Greywolf
