Seems like the time has come for Powerwolf to release “The Best Of” compilation, Best Of The Blessed in their case (of course it should be named that way). Well, the band exists already for 17 years and they have seven albums with countless live shows, so it’s fair enough. Also the band needs to give something to their fans at these tough days.
Whatever some elitists, metal snobs and other critics say, Powerwolf has a peculiar concept, catchy music and their own, recognizable music signature. And the bands works a lot and works hard, just take a look on their tours’ schedule and really good, thoughtful shows. So even if this compilation is some kind of respite, it’s definitely well-earned respite, as for me.
The band approached to this release with a great scale: three CDs! Well, not actually three, it’s two and a little bonus CD separately. The first one is the mentioned compilation, second is “The Live Sacrament”, a record of a live concert from Wolfsnächte Tour 2018 and a little four live songs bonus from Wolfsnächte Tour also. Can’t say I’m a big fan of live albums so I can hardly evaluate this disc fully. The sound is good, the atmosphere of the live show delivered greatly and that’s all I can say about it.
Best Of The Blessed itself contains 16 hits, taken from all the band’s albums. Also Powerwolf somehow made an emphasis on their three last albums: Preachers of the Night (2013), Blessed & Possessed (2015) and the latest one The Sacrament Of Sin (2018). The first albums Return In Bloodred’ (2005) and Lupus Dei (2007) represented quite poorly, with only three songs and I see it as an oversight because there are many good and catchy songs in these albums and it’ll be great to hear them and not the hits, which were released not a long time ago.
On the other hand some early pieces were re-recorded and the band made it well. “Kiss Of The Cobra King” sounds much more saturated, compared to 2005 version (also there were lots of jokes about python in a video). “We Drink Your Blood” became much more atmospheric and “Sanctified With Dynamite” with “In Blood We Trust” are heavier now, with lots of symphonic elements. Here I also need to mention drummer Roel van Helden’s work that made the smooth and a bit boring drums far more diverse. With this, in the race for heavier sound and variety of arrangements, “Resurrection By Erection” suffered a little bit: rich and lush arrangements pushed the humor aspect with mockery somewhere to deep background.
So, was this album so necessary, especially if relatively not a long time ago the band released another two CDs compilation History Of Heresy? I don’t know. Will Best Of The Blessed bring new fans to the band? Probably not. But I can’t call this album superfluous in Powerwolf‘s discography. For me personally this album is like meeting and old friend when you haven’t seen each other for a long time. And I really hope for some new material from the band soon.
Best Of The Blessed will be released on July, 3 via Napalm Records.
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