Despite their 13 years on the map, and their amazingly quick rise to fame, Powerwolf had up till now not yet visited their neighbour to the north. Denmark, that is. This was about to change.
We here at Metalmoments were delighted by this, but it was impossible to guess how the rest of the nation would take it.

“Good evening Copenhagen! Are you ready for this unholy metal mass?!”
- Attila Dorn (vocals)

Thankfully, the rest of the nation seemed to be as delighted as we were. The large hall of Pumpehuset was well-filled already for the support band, Civil War, and when it was time for Powerwolf, the pressure just increased.
In front of us, a darkly beautiful stage loomed, complete with an all-encompassing backdrop, props, stairs, and two keyboards – yes, there were two of them! I didn’t really know why, but it would turn out that it was only to allow Falk Maria Schlegel the opportunity to move around a bit more (as if he ever took it easy in the past), and play in different places.
If you have any knowledge of this band however, in a live capacity that is, you’ll know that Schlegel isn’t the only lively member the band has. The Greywolf brothers, Charles and Matthew, held a perfect contact with the audience, Charles having just a slight edge over Matthew, if you ask me. Attila Dorn was a little bit toned down compared to what I’ve seen him in the past, but still gave a powerhouse performance above and beyond most other frontmen, and Roel van Helden simply couldn’t sit down on his chair, as it should be.

As you may have figured out by now, Powerwolf didn’t have a bass player either, just as Civil War, but this is known with the aforementioned band, and thankfully the sound didn’t suffer like it had during Civil War.
In fact, now the sound was back to being, if not top notch, then at least highly acceptable, and we could hear everything.
There was more to the production than mere sound though, as there was a backdrop change mid-set, there was a display of fire and incense, and something about a flag in Dead Boys Don’t Cry (ok, I admit, by this time I was so into the show, that my notes are a bit sketchy, at best).
The setlist displayed a nice variety throughout the albums, but for some reason their debut, Return In Bloodred, was completely skipped over. Fair enough, they found their stride much better on the follow-up, Lupus Dei, but there are several tracks that could have fit anyway. Something like We Came To Take Your Souls perhaps, or why not Lucifer In Starlight?
Still, nobody was complaining as the werewolves rolled out one hit after the other, destroying our sanity with songs like Resurrection By Erection, Sanctified With Dynamite, and We Drink Your Blood, among so many others. Sure, someone shouted Saturday Satan, me perhaps, but that wish was accommodated shortly after, so no harm, no foul I say.

“Are you ready to fight with us?!”
- Dorn (vocals)

All this came as no surprise to a seasoned Powerwolf fan however, this is what we’ve come to expect from this clergically clad group of monsters in men’s skin.
What did come as a surprise, was the response the group got from the Copenhagen crowd.
As I mentioned above, there really was no telling how this would go down, but Pumpehuset and Livenation made a good bet. Really good. There was a huge amount of people showing up, some in your everyday metal attire, some closer to the gothic persuasion. Not that I necessarily believe they were of the gothic persuasion, power metal and goth have very little in common after all, but the style of clothing is fitting well with the Powerwolf universe.
Regardless of clothing though, we all became one, as a loud chant of “Powerwolf” filled the hall, as we waited for the band. And then when the first song was done. And again between every single song played! By the looks of it, not even the band was expecting such a grand welcome in our country, and they were clearly pleased!
It wouldn’t be a proper show, if it wasn’t milked a little, of course. So, we got to have a left side against right side shouting contest. The left side was led by Schlegel, and the right by Dorn. After a few tries, where Dorn taunted Schlegel because he got a better response out of his side, the changed with each other, and the game continued on. Long, but not too long.
There was of course a lot of singing along, and partying, during the songs, and as we neared the end of the night, I think everyone felt they’d had their money’s worth, and more probably. Some picks, drumsticks, and setlists changed hands, there was a bow, and the werewolves were gone. For this time. But beware the next full moon. Will it be over Copenhell perhaps? I believe, that this would be well received by band and fans alike.

Setlist:

Lupus Daemonis
Blessed & Possessed
Coleus Sanctus
Amen & Attack
Sacred & Wild
Army Of The Night
Resurrection By Erection
Armata Strigoi
Dead Boys Don’t Cry
Let There Be Night
Werewolves Of Armenia
In The Name Of God (Deus Vult)
We Drink Your Blood
Lupus Dei
Agnus Dei
Sanctified With Dynamite
Saturday Satan
All We Need Is Blood
Wolves Against The World