''Return in Bloodred'' is the debut studio album by German

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/ ...

, 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, were written in June 2004. The album was recorded within eight days in September 2004 at

Studio Fredman Studio Fredman is a well-known recording studio in Gothenburg, Sweden, owned and operated by producer Fredrik Nordström. It is popular among Swedish metal bands, with artists such as At the Gates, Deathstars, Nightrage, Norwegian band Dimmu ...

. The drummer Stéfane Funèbre had to be temporarily replaced by Tom Diener during the recording due to a

tendonitis Tendinopathy is a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder ( rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow ( tenn ...

.Book: The History of Heresy I The album was re-released in 2014 as part of the box set '' The History of Heresy I'' along with the album ''

Lupus Dei ''Lupus Dei'' (Latin for ''Wolf of God'') is the second studio album by German power metal band Powerwolf. In addition to recording at Woodhouse Studios, Germany, the band recorded some parts of the album in the 12th-century ''Deutschherrenkapel ...

'' and a DVD of a performance at the

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a Heavy metal music, heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all ...

2008.

Themes

"Mr. Sinister" was the first song Powerwolf had ever written; this served as a guide for the style they appropriated. The text is about

Vlad II Dracul Vlad II (), also known as Vlad Dracul () or Vlad the Dragon (before 1395 – November 1447), was Voivode of Wallachia from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447. He is internationally known as the father of Vlad the Impaler, or Dracula. Bo ...

, the father of

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

. "We Came to Take Your Souls" tells about a war between Romania and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

under Vlad III Dracula. "Kiss of the Cobra King" tells a story about a wolf, which fights against a snake. The story is about the war between Romania and the Ottoman Empire that was already being dealt with in We Came to Take Your Souls. According to older interviews, this is an old Romanian legend; the biography of The History of Heresy I, on the other hand, claims that the idea arose during a rehearsal session when

Attila Dorn Karsten Brill (; born 27 October 1970), best known professionally as Attila Dorn, is a German singer. He has been the lead vocalist of the power metal band Powerwolf since 2003. Career Dragon's Tongue and Meskalin (1991–1998) In 1991 ...

ordered a pop-up

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

group to be quiet, otherwise they would be "bitten by the

Cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

King." "Demons & Diamonds" criticizes the impact of the pursuit of power and wealth. "Montecore" is about the

white tiger The white tiger (ashy tiger) is a leucistic morph of the tiger, typically the Bengal tiger. It is occasionally reported in the Indian wilderness. It has the typical black stripes of a tiger, but its coat is otherwise white or near-white, and ...

, who in 2003 had seriously injured the magician

Roy Horn Siegfried Fischbacher (born Siegfried Tyron Fischbacher; June 13, 1939 – January 13, 2021) and Roy Horn (born Uwe Ludwig Horn; October 3, 1944 – May 8, 2020) were German-American entertainers who performed an animal-based magic show together ...

. "The Evil Made Me Do It" and "Lucifer in Starlight" have strong influences of

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

and are a tribute to

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 ...

. "Lucifer in Starlight" deals with the fascination for the

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

. "Son of the Morning Star" does not include guitar, drums or bass unlike the rest of the album. In addition to Attila's singing only organ sounds are used. Lyrically, the song describes the biblical

apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...

Track listing

Note: After the last track, "Son of the Morning Star", there is roughly a minute of silence.

Personnel

Powerwolf *

– vocals *

Matthew Greywolf 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 band Powerwolf. He's married to a photographer Janine Buss. ...

– lead and rhythm guitar *

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 ...

– bass, rhythm guitar *Stéfane Funèbre – drums, percussion *

Falk Maria Schlegel Christian Jost (born 29 September 1975), best known by his stage name Falk Maria Schlegel, is a German musician. He is best known as the keyboardist of power metal band Powerwolf. Career Jost started as a keyboardist of the progressive thra ...

– organ, keyboards Additional musicians *Tom Diener – drums, percussion *Marcel Sude – spoken words *Mellika Meskine – female vocals Technical personnel *

Fredrik Nordström Björn Tom Fredrik Nordström (born 5 January 1967) is a Swedish record producer and musician, and the guitarist of the heavy metal band Dream Evil. He is one of the leading melodic death metal and power metal producers in Sweden and has worke ...

– engineer, mixer *

Patrik Jerksten Anders Patrik Jerksten (born 19 July 1974), also known as Patrik J., Patrik J. Sten or Pat Power, is a Swedish sound engineer and drummer, he has played for Passenger, The Fifth Sun, and Dream Evil. He has worked extensively in the famous Studi ...

– engineer *David Buballa – engineer, orchestra conductor *Göran Finnberg – mastering Other personnel *Manuela Meyer – photography *Matthew Greywolf – artwork

References

2005 debut albums Powerwolf albums {{2000s-power-metal-album-stub