Review by Saxy S for Powerwolf - Wake Up the Wicked (2024)

Powerwolf are back with their seventh studio album in seven years and they are ready to power metal your face off until you cannot power your power metal anymore. This new album has so much great power going on it that it's honestly impossible to keep up with all the power. With new standards like "Power Metal Song #1" and "Power Metal Song #3," this record will be the most power metal album you hear in all of the year Power-Twenty-Power.

Okay, joking aside, I don' think that Wake Up the Wicked is that bad. The production is tight, the band still have some solid melodic leads on "We Don't Wanna Be No Saints" and "Kyrie Kiltorem," and the record clocks in at a brisk thirty-seven minutes; the song lengths do not overstay their welcome and feel like fully fleshed out ideas, and the album as a whole is high octane energy that never feels like it needs an interlude.

In the grand scheme of things however, Powerwolf are getting on my nerves when it comes to new releases. As mentioned previously, over the past seven years, Powerwolf have released a new album on an annual basis and there has not been any attempts to deviate from their established formula in that time. For as much as I despise modern Alestrom albums, at least they don't assault you with the same, drawn out pirate/folk metal at this rapid of a pace.

I wanted Interludium to be a turning point for the band; a metaphorical interlude that would lead into a second act that was more introspective and thought provoking. It didn't have to be progressive or conceptual like the most recent albums by Angra or Unleash the Archers, but something...unique. I can get a kick out of Wake Up the Wicked for sure, but I'll have a really hard time remembering any of this by years end.

Best Songs: Kyrie Kiltorem, Joan of Arc, Thunderpriest