Powerwolf

Powerwolf is a German power metal band from Saarbrücken formed in 2003.

History
Powerwolf was formed in 2003 by the ex-members of the band Red Aim.

When the band was founded, the members decided to take on pseudonyms and build up backstories around those. Officially, the brothers Charles and Matthew Greywolf had been playing together for years when they decided to create a band, and so Powerwolf was started. Soon the brothers added French drummer Stéfane Funèbre and German keyboardist Falk Maria Schlegel to the band, but could not find a suitable singer to complete the line-up. In the meantime, the band started writing, and on holidays in Sighișoara, Romania, Charles and Matthew met Karsten Brill, who would take the stage name Attila Dorn. Dorn, a student of classical opera at the Music Academy of Bucharest, moved to the band's hometown Saarbrücken, and became the frontman of Powerwolf. With Dorn's love of Romanian werewolf legends, the band created their debut album, Return in Bloodred, which used these same legends as the basis for many of the lyrics. In 2007, they followed up with their second album, Lupus Dei, a concept album starring a wolf as the main character and his rise from bloodlust to enlightenment.

Powerwolf's third album Bible of the Beast was released on April 25, 2009. Stéfane Funèbre left the band during the recording of the album. He was replaced by Tom Diener.

In 2010, Powerwolf organist Falk Maria Schlegel stated about the group's new material: "We spent the last three months in the rehearsal room working out stuff for the new album. Even though it's still in the making, we can already promise the songs are 100% POWERWOLF, taking off where Bible of the Beast ended. There's furious stuff, there's epic stuff — and all of it is catchy as hell."

On May 28, 2011, Powerwolf annouced on their website that Tom Diener "is no longer part of the pack". Roel van Helden became their new drummer.

Their fourth album, titled Blood of the Saints, was released on July 29, 2011 in Europe and August 2 in the United States.

In 2012, Powerwolf released two albums. The first was the Wolfsnächte 2012 Tour EP, a split EP with Mystic Prophecy, Stormwarrior, and Lonewolf. This EP featured a previously unreleased Powerwolf track, "Living on a Nightmare". Copies of this EP were originally distributed along with the purchase of tickets to Powerwolf's Wolfsnächte Tour but since the tour's conclusion, copies have been available in the Powerwolf webstore.

The second of Powerwolf's 2012 releases was Alive in the Night, the band's first live album. It contained 10 tracks and was just over 45 minutes in length. It was released with the April 2012 issue of the German edition of Metal Hammer.

On August 13, 2012, Powerwolf signed a deal with Napalm Records.

Powerwolf released Preachers of the Night on 18 July 2013. The album has entered the official German album charts at position 1.

In 2014, Powerwolf released The History of Heresy I (2004-2008) and The History of Heresy II (2009-2012), the second of which included several orchestral versions of Powerwolf songs. On July 17, 2015, the band released Blessed & Possessed.

On 10 October 2017, Powerwolf announced on Facebook that they had completed writing for their seventh full-length album, promising its release to occur sometime in 2018. In January 2018, the band entered the studio to begin recording the album, due later in the year. The title of the album was later announced as The Sacrament of Sin, which was released on 20 July 2018.

When asked if he was a Christian or a Satanist, Greywolf answered: "I am a metalist, a metal fan. Metal is my religion. Look at all these people, what unites them? I can tell you, it's the fucking metal."

Current members

 * Attila Dorn – vocals
 * Matthew Greywolf – lead and rhythm guitar
 * Charles Greywolf – rhythm guitar, studio bass
 * Falk Maria Schlegel – keyboards
 * Roel van Helden – drums

Former members

 * Stéfane Funèbre – drums
 * Tom Diener – drums

Live musicians

 * Markus Pohl – guitars
 * Fabian Schwarz – guitars

Discography
Main article: Discography

Studio Albums

 * Return in Bloodred (2005)
 * Lupus Dei (2007)
 * Bible of the Beast (2009)
 * Blood of the Saints (2011)
 * Preachers of the Night (2013)
 * Blessed & Possessed (2015)
 * The Sacrament of Sin (2018)
 * Metallum Nostrum (2019)

Mini-albums

 * Wolfsnächte 2012 Tour EP (2011)
 * The Rockhard Sacrament (2013)
 * Wolfsnächte 2015 Tour EP (2015)

Live albums

 * Alive in the Night (2012)
 * The Metal Mass - Live (2016)

Singles

 * Amen & Attack (2013)
 * Armata Strigoi (2015)
 * Army of the Night (2015)
 * Demons Are a Girl's Best Friend (2018)
 * Fire & Forgive (2018)
 * Incense & Iron (2018)

Boxed sets

 * Trinity in Black (2011)
 * The History of Heresy I (2004-2008) (2014)
 * The History of Heresy II (2009-2012) (2014)

Merchandise

 * powerwolf-shop.com
 * EMP
 * Backstreet Merch