Powerwolf
Not Afraid to Repeat Ourselves

22.03.2014

The success enjoyed by German metal werewolves Powerwolf is nothing short of unprecedented. Just a while ago frequent visitors of major festivals would stare in bedazzlement when a horde of weirdos wearing make-up and carting crucifixes showed up on the stage. Today they would marvel at hearing that the next guy at the bar counter is fan of the German quintet and shake hands with the fellow. Sold out concerts throughout Europe, an exceptionally strong fan base in the home country, brilliant new album "Preachers of the Night", which went straight to No. 1 in German Media Control charts – Powerwolf nowadays belong to the top league of heavy metal. The band’s recent trip to Russia was already their second one, and while a frenzied crowd was gathering in front of the stage at Volta Club, we went backstage to to hook up with the most talkative "wolves" - keyboardist Falk Maria Schlegel and drummer Roel Van Helden.

Do you know what holiday is celebrated today in Russia?

Falk: World female day. Is it right?

Yeah, that’s right. Have you prepared any surprises for the ladies in the hall tonight?

Roel: Perhaps. (smiles)

How was the show in St. Petersburg last night?

Falk: Amazing, really amazing. We were playing first in Helsinki and then in St. Petersburg. We’re looking forward to this show. I heard that it is sold out.
Roel: Two years ago we had an absolutely crazy audience here in Moscow. The crowd was loud, and we had a great after-show party. Today we have a double crowd and hope it will be double crazy.

Why did you decide to move from Metal Blade to Napalm Records? Have you considered other label options?

Falk: We fulfilled all obligations to Metal Blade records, “Blood Of The Saints” (2011) was the last album under the contract. And we thought that after eight years it’s time for something new. We checked the offers and decided to change to Napalm records.
Roel: It’s not the decision against Metal Blade, we’re still very good friends with these guys. It’s the decision to take really the best offer we can get.  

Can you say a few words about the process of recording “Preachers Of The Night”? What were the differences between working on this album and the previous ones?

Falk: It’s quite easy to answer, because there are no significant changes. We used all the same stuff. “Amen & Attack” was the first song that we wrote for the new album. And it sounds more aggressive and heavier. The new record as a whole also sounds heavier and faster. But not completely new.

You record organ parts for your albums in a real church in France. Are the priests of that church aware of the purpose of the recording?

Falk: Ok, it’s a little bit difficult, we were there for the fourth time and in the beginning we only told them that we were recording some old choirs, but we didn’t tell them that we’re metal band. (everybody laughs) But then we came back for the second one, and the third one, and the latest one… There are no problems with the church, it’s ok, you are allowed to do that.
Roel: Eventually the priest got to know what we were doing. He loves our music so much. And he blessed the organ recording for the last record. So, we have a new fan!

I heard that many musicians never listen again to their own records to avoid repeating themselves. And what about you?

Roel: We do listen to our records, we listen to what we have done and try to improve it on the next recording. We are not afraid to repeat ourselves, we just play heavy metal and we will always play heavy metal. Maybe a little bit faster and harder. Fans don’t have to worry about us experimenting with other styles or instruments. It’s just gonna be heavy metal.
Falk: Every album is very important for the history of the band. I would never deny our first album and never say that it isn’t a good one. Each one is like a photo of the family, like a moment in our life. It also has to do with development. “Bible of the Beast” (2009) is build upon “Lupus Dei” (2007) and so on.

In your opinion, does the band have any ultimate song, a song that sums up the essence of Powerwolf, just like “Painkiller” does to Judas Priest?

Falk: For me personally it’s “Kreuzfeuer”. It’s quite an untypical song for us, but I really like it. And for performing on stage it’s “Werewolves Of Armenia”. It’s the most powerful song for me to play live.
Roel: My favorite is “Amen & Attack”. I can’t live without the drum kit, and it’s one of our fastest songs, so that’s my favorite.

You have many lyrics addressing religious themes, some of them in a humorous way. And what is your personal attitude towards religion?

Falk: I can’t say we are a spiritual band, I think we write about religious things like an observer. It’s also not the thing that we personally believe in. On the last album there is a story about crusades - we wrote about it, but we are not religious fanatics.
Roel: We don’t think about it from that point. We are not Christians, we are not Satanic, our only religion is heavy metal.

How has your life changed since “Preachers Of The Night” went to number one in the German charts? Did you expect it to have such a success?

Falk: No, no, not really. On the other side, we did really hard work on this album, and of course we hoped that it would be successful. But we can’t plan that. On the day when our management gave me a call and said, “Hey, you are on Top 1!”, it was a great party. But such honors of being on the charts are not an important thing for a heavy metal band. It’s important for many people addicted to heavy metal. Maybe it’s normally for pop music, but we’re never gonna do mainstream stuff. When you play hard music and see you album on the top of the chart, it’s better for metal as a whole.

The wolf on the covers of your albums can be considered your mascot. Does he have a name?

Falk: A name? No. (laughs)
Roel: Ha-ha, we should think about it. (smiles) Iron Maiden has Eddie, Megadeth has Vic Rattlehead. Next time we will give him a name.

I really love your new cover versions - “Headless Cross” by Black Sabbath and “Nightcrawler” Judas Priest. Why did you choose these particular songs?

Roel: To honor the metal gods. We could do an Iron Maiden song, but it has been done so many times.

Back in the early days, what inspired you to start a musical career?

Falk: For me especially it was Iron Maiden. Their first record I heard was “Piece Of Mind”, but there were no keyboards. After some years I discovered “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”, and I think it was the turning point. Then I saw Maiden on Monsters of Rock festival in Germany, and I decided that I want to be on stage like them.
Roel: I have always listened to heavy metal, since I was… I don’t know… 10 years old. My cousin gave me some tapes of Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Metallica. From that point I knew I was gonna do that. I already played guitar, but later drums became my thing. I was drumming a little bit better than playing guitar. So there was never a question what I gotta do, it was always clear to me.

What is the most important lesson you have learned over the years in the music business?

Falk: To be authentic. Yeah, I think it’s the most important thing. And of course, to always hard work. Even if you get some success you always need to work every fucking day for the show, for your music, with your management. You can’t go home and say, “Ok, I’ve been to Moscow and now I’m off to vacation”. The next step we have outlined is to play some festival, then make the next video, then we should record a new album and so on…
Roel: Working hard is the most important thing.

Next year you will celebrate 10 years of Powerwolf. Do you already have any plans for celebration? Maybe release an anniversary DVD, compilation? Orjust big bombastic concerts?

Falk: Of course there will be a special show. Probably we will make a vote for the fans to choose songs for the setlist. There also will be a lot of pyrotechnics, visual elements.
Roel: We hope that we could make it not only in Germany, but on some festivals too. It will be cool to make a special camping area for the fan-club, for example.
Falk: We are in talks about reissues with Metal Blade Records, there might be a retrospective of our first four albums with fat booklets.
Roel: One book would contain the first two albums, and the other one the third and the fourth ones. They will be rereleased as a big package.
Falk: With unreleased pictures, liner notes by the band, bonus tracks and so on.

Thank you guys for the interview. Please say some final words for our readers.

Roel: Thank for the reading this interview, thanks for coming to our shows in Russia.
Falk: Metal is religion!

Powerwolf on the Internet: http://www.powerwolf.net

Special thanks to Oleg Kolenda (Delta Mekong Concerts) for arranging this interview

Interview by Mikhail “IronMike” Shatalin
Photos by Natalie “Snakeheart” Patrashova
March 8, 2014
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