Blessed & Possessed

Blessed & Possessed is the sixth studio album by German power metal band Powerwolf,[7] released on 17 July 2015 by Napalm Records. The band wrote it during 2014 and began recording it in January 2015[8] at the Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden, and was produced by Fredrik Nordström.[9] It was mastered in the Fascination Street Studios by Jens Bogren.[10][11]

Blessed & Possessed
Studio album by
Powerwolf
Released17 July 2015
RecordedJanuary–March 2015
StudioStudio Fredman, Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre
Length45:42
97:43 (deluxe version)
Language
  • English
  • Latin
LabelNapalm Records
ProducerFredrik Nordström
Powerwolf studio album chronology
Preachers of the Night
(2013)		 Blessed & Possessed
(2015)		 The Sacrament of Sin
(2018)
Singles from Blessed & Possessed
  1. "Army of the Night"
    Released: 8 May 2015
  2. "Armata Strigoi"
    Released: 5 June 2015
Tour edition cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Distorted Sound Magazine[1]
Metal.de[2]
Metal Hammer[3]
Metal Storm6.8/10[4]
Metal Temple[5]
metalunderground.com[6]

Boxset and Earbook Edition of the album features a bonus CD Metallum Nostrum, which contains 10 songs of different artists that Powerwolf's band members selected to cover.[12] It was re-released separately on 11 January 2019.[13]

Background

Powerwolf began writing their sixth album in June 2014. They finished in the December of the same year.[8] They announced their new album on their Facebook page on 5 December 2014.

They began recording the album in January 2015 at the Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, and the process lasted until March of the same year. They unveiled album's title and the cover art on 18 March 2015. The guitarist Matthew Greywolf stated about the group's new material:[14]

Without revealing too much, you can expect an album that's 100% uncompromising Powerwolf stuff. There's songs to go wild to, there's epic and atmospheric stuff, and a lot of wolfish metal madness in between, and quite a bunch of songs that will be must-plays on any future Powerwolf show, for damn sure.

Before the album was released, the group released two singles, "Army of the Night"[15] and "Armata Strigoi".[16] Both of them were first released only in digital form.[17][18]

Critical reception

The album was rated positively by the critics. Metal.de wrote: "Blessed & Possessed is already the metal party disc of the year! With powerful riffing, big hooks and the darling dose of kitsch Powerwolf once again created an album in which every song is really a hit!".[2] Metal Hammer saw the song "Higher Than Heaven" as the "highlight of the album".[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Matthew Greywolf, Charles Greywolf, Attila Dorn, Falk Maria Schlegel and Roel van Helden

No.TitleLength
1."Blessed & Possessed"4:42
2."Dead Until Dark"3:49
3."Army of the Night"3:21
4."Armata Strigoi"3:59
5."We Are the Wild"3:41
6."Higher Than Heaven"3:30
7."Christ & Combat"3:39
8."Sanctus Dominus"3:22
9."Sacramental Sister"4:36
10."All You Can Bleed"3:44
11."Let There Be Night"7:19
Total length:45:42
Tour edition bonus CD (Preaching at the Breeze)
No.TitleLength
1."Lupus Daemonis (Intro)" 
2."Sanctified with Dynamite" 
3."Coleus Sanctus" 
4."Army of the Night" 
5."Amen & Attack" 
6."Resurrection by Erection" 
7."Armata Strigoi" 
8."Kreuzfeuer" 
9."Werewolves of Armenia" 
10."In the Name of God" 
11."Blessed & Possessed" 
12."All We Need Is Blood" 
13."Dead Boys Don't Cry" 
14."We Drink Your Blood" 
15."Lupus Dei" 

Boxset & Earbook edition contain a bonus CD, Metallum Nostrum, which was not released separately until 11 January 2019.

Personnel

Charts
Chart (2015) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[19] 17
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 41
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] 59
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] 70
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[23] 30
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 3
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[25] 26
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 46
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 10
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[28] 14

Sales and certifications
Country Certification
(sales thresholds)
Czech Republic Gold

Release history
Region Date Format Label Edition(s) Catalog Ref.
United States & Europe 17 July 2015 CD Napalm Records Standard NPR 486
Europe 2 CD Boxed set, limited edition NPR 586 BO
United States & Europe 2 CD, LP Boxed set, limited edition NPR 486
Europe CD Standard NPR 586 JC
Russia 2015 2 CD Mazzar Records Limited edition, digipak MZR CD 725 [29]
South Korea July 2015 Evolution Music Deluxe edition L100005070 [30]
Japan 22 July 2015 Avalon Japan MICP-90088 [31]
Europe 6 January 2017 Napalm Records Tour edition, digipak NPR 486
Russia 2018 CD Soyuz Music Standard SZCD 9993-18 [32]

References
  1. "ALBUM REVIEW: Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed". Distorted Sound Magazine. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  2. "Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed Review • metal.de". metal.de. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  3. "Kritik zu Powerwolf Blessed & Possessed". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  4. "Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed review". Metal Storm. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  5. Apex. "Metal-Temple.com :: Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed (CD Review)". metal-temple.com. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  6. "Powerwolf – "Blessed & Possessed" (CD)". metalunderground.com. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  7. "POWERWOLF To Release 'Blessed & Possessed' In July". Blabbermouth. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  8. Blabbermouth (9 December 2014). "New POWERWOLF Album Due Next Year". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  9. "Powerwolf Are Blessed And Possessed". Maximum Volume Music. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  10. Blabbermouth (16 April 2015). "POWERWOLF: Making Of 'Blessed & Possessed' Part One (Video)". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  11. Blabbermouth (5 April 2015). "POWERWOLF Completes Mixing And Mastering 'Blessed & Possessed'". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  12. Blabbermouth (3 July 2015). "POWERWOLF's Cover Version Of GARY MOORE's 'Out In The Fields' Available For Streaming". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  13. Redacción (13 January 2019). "POWERWOLF: Escucha la versión de "The Evil That Men Do" de IRON MAIDEN". TodoRock.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  14. Blabbermouth (18 March 2015). "POWERWOLF To Release 'Blessed & Possessed' In July". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  15. "POWERWOLF: 'Army Of The Night' Song Premiere". Metal Addicts. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  16. "Seht hier zuerst das neue Powerwolf-Video zu 'Armata Strigoi'". Metal Hammer (in German). 2 June 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  17. Army of the Night – Single by Powerwolf, archived from the original on 23 August 2019, retrieved 8 September 2019
  18. Armata Strigoi – Single by Powerwolf, retrieved 8 September 2019
  19. "Austriancharts.at – Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  20. "Ultratop.be – Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  21. "Ultratop.be – Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  22. "Dutchcharts.nl – Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  23. "Powerwolf: Blessed & Possessed" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  24. "Offiziellecharts.de – Powerwolf – Blessed and Possessed" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  25. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2015. 32. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  26. "Swedishcharts.com – Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  27. "Swisscharts.com – Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  28. "Powerwolf Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  29. "Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed". Discogs. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  30. "Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed". Discogs. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  31. "Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed". Discogs. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  32. "Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed". Discogs. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
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