Benjamin Buss (; born 7 October 1977), best known by his stage name Matthew Greywolf, is a German musician, best known as the lead guitarist and a main songwriter in the

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...

band

Powerwolf Powerwolf (often stylized in all caps) is a German power metal band founded in 2004 in Saarbrücken by members of Red Aim. The band consists of vocalist Karsten Brill as "Attila Dorn", lead guitarist Benjamin Buss as "Matthew Greywolf", bassist/ ...

. He's married to a photographer Janine Buss.

Biography

Buss comes from

Wadgassen Wadgassen is a municipality in the district of Saarlouis, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Saar, approx. 6 km southeast of Saarlouis, and 15 km west of Saarbrücken. Religion Between 1135 and 1792 the Premonstratensia ...

. He was raised in a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family. He became interested in

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal band ...

when he was 11 years old. In 1994, along with other people he started a band Flowing Tears & Withered Flowers. He was a guitarist and a keyboardist of the band. They changed their name to Flowing Tears in 1999. In 1995 along with his schoolmate Pascal Flach he founded Red Aim. He started

along with

Charles Greywolf David Vogt (; born 5 September 1975), best known by his stage name Charles Greywolf, is a German musician, record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist of the power metal band Powerwolf. He runs a re ...

(David Vogt) in 2003. He's the main songwriter of the band and a member that appears in most of the interviews with the group. He also designed the stage setup,

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

, artwork and layout for most of their albums. When asked if he was a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

or a

Satanist Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...

, Matthew Greywolf answered: "I am a metalist, a metal fan. Metal is my religion. Look at all these people, what unites them? I can tell you, it's the fucking metal". He claims that his main musical influences are

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

Michael Schenker Group The Michael Schenker Group (often abbreviated as MSG) is an English hard rock band, formed in London in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist Michael Schenker. After the release of their second live album, 1984's '' Rock Will Never Die'', ...

Mercyful Fate Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with LaVeyan Satanism (often with ironic ...

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( or , ) is the primordial sea, mating with Abzû (Apsu), the groundwater, to produce the gods in the Babylonian epic '' Enûma Elish'', which translates as "when on high". She is referred to as a woman, an ...

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

Dead Can Dance Dead Can Dance are a British-Australian band founded in Melbourne in 1981 by Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, before relocating to London the following year. The Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described Dead Can Dance's style as "const ...

and countless others.

Discography

With Powerwolf

* ''

Return in Bloodred ''Return in Bloodred'' is the debut studio album by German power metal band Powerwolf, released in 2005. History First songs for the album, such as "Mr. Sinister" and "We Came to Take Your Souls", which were completed in the first session, we ...

'' (2005) * '' Lupus Dei'' (2007) * '' Bible of the Beast'' (2009) * ''

Blood of the Saints ''Blood of the Saints'' is the fourth studio album by German power metal band Powerwolf, released in 2011.- - - It is the band's first album with songs that had music videos, made for We Drink Your Blood and Sanctified with Dynamite. In additio ...

'' (2011) * ''

Preachers of the Night ''Preachers of the Night'' is the fifth studio album by German power metal band Powerwolf. It was released on 19 July 2013.- - - The band wrote it during 2012 and began recording it in December of the same year at the Studio Fredman in Gothenbu ...

'' (2013) * ''

Blessed & Possessed ''Blessed & Possessed'' is the sixth studio album by German power metal band Powerwolf, released on 17 July 2015 by Napalm Records. The band wrote it during 2014 and began recording it in January 2015 at the Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden, ...

'' (2015) * ''

The Sacrament of Sin ''The Sacrament of Sin'' is the seventh studio album by German power metal band Powerwolf, released on 20 July 2018 by Napalm Records. The band wrote it during 2017 and began recording it in January 2018 at the Fascination Street Studios in Örebr ...

'' (2018) * '' Call of the Wild'' (2021) * ''

Interludium ''Interludium'' is the ninth studio album by German power metal band Powerwolf. The album was released on 7 April 2023 through Napalm Records and was produced by Joost van den Broek. Critical reception David E. Gehlke from Blabbermouth.net gave ...

'' (2023) * ''

Wake Up the Wicked ''Wake Up the Wicked'' is the tenth studio album by German heavy metal band Powerwolf. It was released on 26 July 2024 via Napalm Records. Critical reception Blabbermouth.net described the work as "an album full of instantly memorable heavy me ...

'' (2024)

With Flowing Tears

* ''Swansongs'' (1996) * ''Joy Parade'' (1998) * ''

Jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

'' (2000) * '' Serpentine'' (2002) * '' Razorbliss'' (2004) * ''

Thy Kingdom Gone ''Thy Kingdom Gone'' is a concept album and the sixth full-length album by the German gothic metal band Flowing Tears. The cover art was made by Seth Siro Anton, who has previously worked with bands such as Moonspell, Soilwork, and Paradise Lo ...

'' (2008)

With Red Aim

* ''Call Me Tiger'' (1999) * '' Saartanic Cluttydogs'' (2001) * '' Flesh for Fantasy'' (2002) * '' Niagara'' (2003)

Guest appearances

* Autumnblaze – ''Every Sun Is Fragile'' (2013; guitar on track 10 "Verglimmt")

Equipment

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greywolf, Matthew Powerwolf members Flowing Tears members Red Aim members German heavy metal guitarists Heavy metal keyboardists People from Saarlouis (district) Living people 1977 births