It's taken nearly two decades, but Powerwolf is finally bringing their heavy metal mass to North America.
Ahead of the much hyped tour and release of their latest collection Interludium (available April 7th through Napalm Records), founding member and keyboardist Falk Maria Schlegel sat down with Metal Injection for a preview of the holy sacrament that is a Powerwolf performance on U.S. and Canadian soil.
"I'm so sorry it took us two decades to come over for the first time," he offers sincerely. "And you're completely right, we got a lot of requests and the fans were asking, 'Hey guys, when will you come over and play your metal mass with us?' A lot of believers and metal believers. And yeah, the time has come now, for the first time, and we're really looking forward to playing that show.
"And I promised that last year in an interview and now it's really going to happen and I'm super excited to be honest. And we want to deliver a great show, a great metal mass with you over there."
Though Schlegel is quick to point out that, while the maiden voyage to the west is a check-mark on the bucket list for the band and their legion of fans, it certainly will not be a one-off.
"I hope this is the starting point for the future that we will come over almost every year. I'm really hoping that we'll have much more activities in North America. So I consider this as a starting point and that we can continue it in the future."
Building on the momentum of 2021's Call of the Wild and last year's The Monumental Mass – A Cinematic Metal Event, Powerwolf will uncork Interludium, a collection of new songs, rarities and the bonus album Communio Lupatum II, (where eleven befriended bands like Eisbrecher, Electric Callboy, Korpiklaani and Rage cover some of the biggest hits of Powerwolf's career), just in time for Easter.
"It's called Interludium from the Latin language because it's something in between. Something in between Call of the Wild, The Monumental Mass, and probably the next full album," Schlegel shares.
"We had these six new songs and we were thinking about, should we keep it for the next album or should we just release it, as you said, for the fans to have some new music from Powerwolf? And then to combine it with some rarities and the Communio Lupatum II, with the bands who are covering Powerwolf. So we have a good result."
Powerwolf recently toasted shock rock legend and certified icon Alice Cooper on his 75th birthday with a fittingly epic cover of his chart-topper "Poison", with Falk Maria sharing that the man himself reached out to the band to offer personal praise for their version.
"'Poison' is really one of the best songs ever in rock history. It wasn't so easy to approach that song because everyone in the world knows that song, and we want to keep the character of that song on one side and on the other side we wanted to put some Powerwolf sounds in there too, to have a good mixture.
"The really nice thing is that Alice contacted us and said, 'Guys, listen, this new version is awesome and I'm really proud to be honest.' I'm really proud to read that because the Grandmaster told us 'I like your version of 'Poison." It's like, come on. That's really awesome. And you know, it was, I guess, a really good birthday present for Alice Cooper."
As for what fans can expect from Powerwolf's maiden heavy metal mass across North America?
"If I speak for Powerwolf, I would say the credo is metal is religion and we want to deliver," Schlegel urges. "We consider us as a pure heavy metal band with a lot of yeah, using some clichés, some entertainment factor, some over-the-top acting onstage, but completely dedicated to what we are doing.
"At our shows, we are celebrating the holy heavy metal mass. It's not only a concert for us and also for the audience, I hope so. Normally, no one is only standing there watching and listening to the show. It's more like a complete family in one room and with a lot of energy.
"It's fun, it's energy, it's hot. And I don't know, I guess that's the best description of what a Powerwolf show stands for." Catch Powerwolf at one of the upcoming shows and pre-order Interludium here.
2/23 New York, NY @ Palladium Times Square – Sold Out
2/24 Montreal, QC @ M TELUS – Sold Out
2/25 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium – Sold Out
3/20 Dallas, TX @ The Factory
3/22 Denver, CO @ The Ogden Theatre
3/24 San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
3/25 Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
4/6 Cologne, Germany @ Palladium
6/2-4 Pilzen, Czech Republic @ Metalfest
6/4 Budapest, Hungary @ Barba Negra Open Air
6/6 Bukarest, Romania @ Romexpo
6/7-10 Nickelsdorf, Austria @ Nova Rock Festival
6/17 Clisson, France @ Hellfest Open Air
6/22-24 Oslo, Norway @ Tons of Rock
6/28-7/1 Galicia, Spain @ Resurrection Fest
7/15 Saarbrücken, Germany @ SB Open Air
8/11-13 Kortrijk, Belgium @ Alcatraz Festival
8/16-19 Dinkelsbühl, Germany @ Summer Breeze Festival
8/17-19 Sulingen, Germany @ Reload Festival
8/26 Giessener, Germany @ Giessener Kultursommer
