Karsten Brill (; born 27 October 1970), best known by his stage name Attila Dorn, is a German singer. He has been the lead vocalist of

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

band

Powerwolf Powerwolf, often stylized as POWERWOLF, is a German power metal band founded in 2003 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/ ...

since 2003.

Career

Dragon's Tongue and Meskalin (1991–1998)

In 1991, Brill along with Derek Butsch (drums), Markus Görg (bass), Thorsten Neu (lead guitar) and Stefan Reile (rhythm guitar) created Dragon's Tongue, the first

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

band in

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

. They quickly earned a very good reputation. They changed their name to Meskalin in 1996. The band was dissolved after the death of Derek Butsch in 1998.

Red Aim (1999–2006)

Brill joined

Red Aim Red Aim was a German rock band. The group was founded in 1995 and mainly played stoner and raga rock. After the change of vocalist to Karsten Brill, the music started to go more into the direction of punk rock and heavy metal. History Red ...

replacing Pascal Flach in 1999 under the stage name Dr. Don Rogers. After he joined the band, their music started to go more into the direction of punk rock and heavy metal. They also re-recorded their first studio album titled ''Call Me Tiger'' in 2000 with him.

Powerwolf (2003–present)

He joined Powerwolf along with other Red Aim members in 2003. Similar to other band members, he decided to take on pseudonym Attila Dorn and build up a backstory around it. According to it, Attila is half Romanian and half Hungarian.

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

and

Matthew Greywolf Benjamin Buss (; born 7 October 1977), best known by his stage name Matthew Greywolf, is a German musician, best known as the guitarist and a main songwriter in the power metal band Powerwolf. He's married to a photographer Janine Buss. Biog ...

met him in a pub in

Sighișoara Sighișoara (; hu, Segesvár ; german: Schäßburg ; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Schäsbrich''; yi, שעסבורג, Shesburg; la, Castrum Sex) is a city on the Târnava Mare River in Mureș County, Romania. Located in the historic region of Transy ...

on their holidays in Romania and invited him to join their band. Soon after that, Attila moved to the Powerwolf's hometown Saarbrücken, and became the frontman of the band. On 22 October 2005 he performed live in

Kaufbeuren Kaufbeuren (; Bavarian: ''Kaufbeiren'') is an independent town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia, Bavaria. The town is an enclave within the district of Ostallgäu. Districts Kaufbeuren consists of nine districts: * Kaufbeuren (town core ...

with

Gamma Ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically ...

during their song "Blood Religion". He was a guest during

Sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armor that covers the foot. History Fourteenth and fifteenth century sabatons typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following fashionable shoe shapes o ...

's concert in

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

on 17 September 2011. In an interview with the

Rock Hard "Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song "Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdraw ...

magazine in 2013, Matthew Greywolf confirmed that Dorn is not from Romania. The ''

Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung ''Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung'' (German: ''New Newspaper of Osnabrück''; also known as ''Neue OZ'') is a regional daily newspaper published in Osnabrück, Germany. History and profile ''Neue OZ'' was established in 1967 as a successor of '' Neue ...

'' compared Brill's Attila Dorn character with

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...

, the ''

Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung ''Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung'' (abbreviated HAZ) is a German newspaper with a circulation of 158,000 (as of 2009) and a widespread resonance all over Germany. It is distributed in Hanover and in all Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: ...

'' described him as a "mix of a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

and a crusader" and ''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

'' as a "mix of Hunnic ruler and an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

priest".

Personal life

Karsten Brill was born on 27 October 1970 in Bous (then in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

) as a son of Albert Brill. On 16 May 2015, he married Powerwolf's photographer Jenny Brill. He currently lives in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

Singing style

Brill can sing from operatic to belting and raspy vocals like

screaming A scream is a loud speech production, vocalization in which air is passed through the vocal cords with greater force than is used in regular or close-distance vocalisation. This can be performed by any creature possessing lungs, including human ...

. He is a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

. He has a vocal range of C₂–B₅. He received classical vocal training by a vocal coach Francesco Cottone in Saarbrücken.

Discography

With Powerwolf

* '' Return in Bloodred'' (2005) * ''

Lupus Dei ''Lupus Dei'' (Latin for ''Wolf of God'') is the second full-length studio album by the 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 ''De ...

'' (2007) * ''

Bible of the Beast ''Bible of the Beast'' is the third studio album by the German power metal band Powerwolf. The album was released on 24 April 2009. It was recorded at the Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden. Powerwolf revealed the details of their third album ...

'' (2009) * ''

Blood of the Saints ''Blood of the Saints'' is the fourth studio album by the 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 ...

'' (2011) * ''

Preachers of the Night ''Preachers of the Night'' is the fifth studio album by the 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 Got ...

'' (2013) * ''

Blessed & Possessed ''Blessed & Possessed'' is the sixth studio album by the 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, Swed ...

'' (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) * ''

Metallum Nostrum ''Metallum Nostrum'' is a cover album by German power metal band Powerwolf, originally released on 17 July 2015 as a bonus disc to ''Blessed & Possessed''. It was re-released separately on 11 January 2019. Track listing Personnel Musicians ...

'' (2019) *'' Call of the Wild'' (2021)

With Red Aim

* ''Call Me Tiger'' (2000) * '' Saartanic Cluttydogs'' (2001) * ''

Flesh for Fantasy "Flesh for Fantasy" is a song by Billy Idol from his 1983 studio album ''Rebel Yell''. It became the album's third single. Background and writing The song was written by Billy Idol and Steve Stevens Steve Stevens (born Steven Bruce Schne ...

'' (2002) * ''

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

'' (2003)

With Meskalin

* ''Meskalin'' (1997)

With Dragon's Tongue

* ''Fake'' (1994) * ''Love but Lies'' (1996) * ''Bored Beyond Belief'' (1996)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorn, Attila Powerwolf members Red Aim members German heavy metal singers English-language singers from Germany People from Saarlouis (district) 21st-century German male singers Living people 1970 births