Blood of the Saints

Blood of the Saints, released on July 29, 2011, is Powerwolf's fourth studio album. Fredrik Nordström produced it in Sweden, and it is the first record with Dutch drummer Roel van Helden, who joined that year. It reached No. 23 on the German albums chart — the band's first showing on it. After the short “Agnus Dei (Intro),” “Sanctified with Dynamite” delivers exactly what its collision of words promises and has stayed in the set list for nearly twenty years since. “We Drink Your Blood” and “Night of the Werewolves” are built on repeating choruses, while “Dead Boys Don't Cry” changes the scene with a bouncing rhythm. On “All We Need is Blood” and “Die, Die, Crucify,” religious language is piled up past the point of excess, which is precisely what turns it into style. Nordström's work sharpened outlines rather than inflating them. Drums and organ sit clearly apart, and Attila Dorn's voice is placed at the centre. The closing “Ira Sancti (When the Saints Are Going Wild)” states the band's core idea — translating hymn melody into metal — as plainly as it has ever been stated. This is the album that made the next leap possible.