A night of power metal besieged Brooklyn Paramount, a palace of a venue located in bustling downtown Brooklyn. Long before 7:00 p.m. doors, a line of people stretched down Flatbush Ave with this the destination of their unholy pilgrimage. Once inside the venue, the baroque ornamentation immediately towers over you. Reminiscent of an opera hall, it lent itself well to the winding, fantastical riffs so common in the genre.
Melodic Canadian metallers Unleash the Archers took the stage to warm up the crowd. Vocalist Brittney Slayes’s glorious voice soared over the robust melodies as she and the guitarists raced across stage, readying for war. This energetic opener was like training camp for the battle about to unfold.
The stage went dark as a hefty backdrop started to go up. Stone structures and gothic window arches made up the scene, with two ferocious werewolves flanking stage left and right. The increasingly ravenous crowd started to chant “Powerwolf! Powerwolf!” Luckily they did not make us wait long. A doomy church-like interlude began, signaling the start of the lycanthropic mass.
With theatrical flair, the corpse-painted quintet Powerwolf took the stage, blasting into the first blasphemous hymn, “Bless ’em With the Blade.” The catchiness of this song off their latest album was the perfect intro and the drums were far louder than Archers – a swift punch to the eardrum. With song one done, lead singer Attila Dorn took a moment to address the crowd, his all-smiles countenance belying his undead-saintly outfit. That the band doesn’t take themselves too seriously made it more fun, and that is a big theme in power metal.
Now clutching an incense censer and swinging it uncomfortably close to the photo pit, Dorn launched into the next crusade, “Incense & Iron.” It felt like a battlecry which was a fitting segue into the next track, “Army of the Night,” full of thunderous riffs and explosive speed.
One melody bled into the next for two hours but the crowd never waivered. They swayed and stomped like a loyal crew, with Dorn’s voice the shipmaster. That’s another thing about power metal. It tends not to be revolutionary, but interpretative. It’s hard to find a moment that stands out amidst the certain formulaic alchemy of sound, but once you are on its wavelength, you’re hooked.
They went full-on werewolf for their encore set, including “We Drink Your Blood” and finally “Werewolves of Armenia.” The injection of Latin phrases and Hallelujahs made it eerily church-like. The final song ended but with energy still at an all time high, Dorn deemed us possessed by power metal. And as I left the venue and saw the waxing gibbous moon, it certainly seemed brighter than usual.
Setlist:
Bless ’em With the Blade
Incense & Iron
Army of the Night
Sinners of the Seven Seas
Amen & Attack
Dancing With the Dead
Armata Strigoi
1589
Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend
Stossgebet
Fire and Forgive
We Don’t Wanna Be No Saints
Alive or Undead
Heretic Hunters
Sainted by the Storm
Blood for Blood (Faoladh)
Encore:
Sanctified With Dynamite
We Drink Your Blood
Werewolves of Armenia
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WORDS AND PHOTOS BY REBECCA PAIGE