Blessed & Possessed

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Blessed & Possessed
Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed.jpg
Studio album by
Powerwolf
Released17 July 2015
RecordedJanuary - March 2015
StudioStudio Fredman, Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre
Length45:42
1:37:43 (Deluxe Version)
Language
LabelNapalm Records
ProducerFredrik Nordström
Powerwolf chronology
Preachers of the Night
(2014) 		Blessed & Possessed
(2015) 		The Metal Mass – Live
(2016)
Singles from Blessed & Possessed
  1. "Army of the Night"
    Released: 8 May 2015
  2. "Armata Strigoi"
    Released: 5 June 2015
Tour edition cover
Blessed & Possessed.jpg
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Distorted Sound Magazine7/10 stars[1]
Metal.de9/10 stars[2]
Metal Hammer6/7 stars[3]
Metal Storm6.8/10[4]
Metal Temple9/10 stars[5]
metalunderground.com4/5 stars[6]

Blessed & Possessed is the sixth studio album by the 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]

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" 
16."Rock You Like a Hurricane (Scorpions cover)" 
17."Shot in The Dark (Ozzy Osbourne cover)" 
18."The Evil That Men Do (Iron Maiden cover)" 

Boxset & Earbook Edition contains 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
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[24] 26
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] 3
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 [29]
Europe 2 CD Boxed set, Limited edition NPR 586 BO [30]
United States & Europe 2 CD, LP Boxed set, Limited edition NPR 486 [31]
Europe CD Standard NPR 586 JC [32]
Russia 2015 2 CD Mazzar Records Limited edition, Digipak MZR CD 725 [33]
South Korea July 2015 Evolution Music Deluxe edition L100005070 [34]
Japan 22 July 2015 Avalon Japan MICP-90088 [35]
Europe 6 January 2017 Napalm Records Tour edition, Digipak NPR 486 [36]
Russia 2018 CD Soyuz Music Standard SZCD 9993-18 [37]

References[]

  1. ^ "ALBUM REVIEW: Powerwolf – Blessed & Possessed". Distorted Sound Magazine. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed Review • metal.de". metal.de. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Kritik zu Powerwolf Blessed & Possessed". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  4. ^ "Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed review". Metal Storm. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  5. ^ Apex. "Metal-Temple.com :: Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed (CD Review)". www.metal-temple.com. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  6. ^ "Powerwolf - "Blessed & Possessed" (CD)". www.metalunderground.com. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  7. ^ "POWERWOLF To Release 'Blessed & Possessed' In July". Blabbermouth. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Blabbermouth (2014-12-09). "New POWERWOLF Album Due Next Year". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  9. ^ "Powerwolf Are Blessed And Possessed". Maximum Volume Music. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  10. ^ Blabbermouth (2015-04-16). "POWERWOLF: Making Of 'Blessed & Possessed' Part One (Video)". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  11. ^ Blabbermouth (2015-04-05). "POWERWOLF Completes Mixing And Mastering 'Blessed & Possessed'". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  12. ^ Blabbermouth (2015-07-03). "POWERWOLF's Cover Version Of GARY MOORE's 'Out In The Fields' Available For Streaming". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  13. ^ Redacción (2019-01-13). "POWERWOLF: Escucha la versión de "The Evil That Men Do" de IRON MAIDEN". TodoRock.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  14. ^ Blabbermouth (2015-03-18). "POWERWOLF To Release 'Blessed & Possessed' In July". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  15. ^ "POWERWOLF: 'Army Of The Night' Song Premiere". Metal Addicts. 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  16. ^ "Seht hier zuerst das neue Powerwolf-Video zu 'Armata Strigoi'". Metal Hammer (in German). 2015-06-02. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  17. ^ Army of the Night - Single by Powerwolf, retrieved 2019-09-08
  18. ^ Armata Strigoi - Single by Powerwolf, retrieved 2019-09-08
  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. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2015. 32. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  25. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Powerwolf – Blessed and Possessed" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  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 - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  30. ^ "Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  31. ^ "Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  32. ^ "Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  33. ^ "Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  34. ^ "Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  35. ^ "Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  36. ^ "Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  37. ^ "Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
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