Powerwolf - Alive In The Night (2012) - Solid production and live atmosphere - 73% (29/05/12)

This live record from the Germa heavy and power metal band Powerwolf came as a special gimmick added to the April issue of the German Metal Hammer in a jewelcase with a small four page booklet. With a running time of forty-six minutes, this surely is value for money. This live record quite equally covers songs from all of the band’s releases apart of the rather unknown first studio record.

Musically, the band offers solid dynamic heavy metal with some thetral elements that sound a little bit over the top and quite stereotypical at some points. The vocals are quite variable and good in the heavier tracks but somewhat pathetic in the melodic choruses. The keyboards and their organ sounds add an atmosphere to the sound that reminds me of a mixture of Avantasia, Ghost and Rhapsody Of Fire. The riffs are not very complex or outstanding in any way but at least straight and quite catchy. The topics also quite remain the same all the time and mix fantasy elements with humorous passages and a couple of poser lyrics that could also come from The 69 Eyes. The main topic is, as you may suggest by the band’s name and the titles of the different tracks, about wolves.

The strongest point of this release is its surprisingly great production and strong live atmosphere. The interactions between the crowd and the band are very enthousiastic. This high degree of passion compensates a lot for more or less addicting and somewhat repetitive tracks. Especially the singer has a certain talent to animate the crowd and prepare them for the coming tracks with a couple of little cheerings, jokes and speeches. Only his exagerated singing cheering in the final track and maybe strongest song “Lupus Dei” and his strange accent sound rather ridicolous. On the other side, this song is probanbly the most addicting one apart of “Werewolves Of Armenia” that has a riff that reminds a lot of Amon Amarth’s “Pursuit Of The Vikings” while the chorus could also come from Rhpasody Of Fire.

In the end, this record is a nice gimmick at a good price. As a live release, this record has a quite good atmosphere and well produced sound. The music itself is though not very convincing or original. After a while it all sounds like something we have heard before too many times and gets rather redundant or even annoying. Those who would like to hear a slightly slower version of Rhapsody Of Fire might though adore this record. If I wouldn’t know that these guys are from germany I would certainly guess they came from Italy. Personally, this release certainly doesn’t inspire me to buy any studio record of the band but it’s good as a little gimmick in your extended metal collection.