''Return in Bloodred'' is the first full-length studio album by the German

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/ ...

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

tendonitis Tendinopathy, 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 ( tennis e ...

.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 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 ...

'' and a DVD of a performance at the

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

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 ( ro, Vlad al II-lea), 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 Im ...

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

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

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 by his stage name Attila Dorn, is a German singer. He has been the lead vocalist of power metal band Powerwolf since 2003. Career Dragon's Tongue and Meskalin (1991–1998) In 1991, Br ...

ordered a pop-up pop group to be quiet, otherwise they would be "bitten by the Cobra King." "Demons & Diamonds" criticizes the impact of the pursuit of power and wealth. "Montecore" is about the

white tiger The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Mainland tiger. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and ...

, who in 2003 had seriously injured the magician Roy Horn. "The Evil Made Me Do It" and "Lucifer in Starlight" have strong influences of the doom metal and are a tribute to

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

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

devil A devil is the 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 conceptions of ...

. "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.

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 guitarist and a main songwriter in the power metal band Powerwolf. He's married to a photographer Janine Buss. Biog ...

– 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 guitarist of the power metal band Powerwolf. He runs a recording ...

– 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 a progressive thrash ...

– organ, keyboards Additional musicians *Tom Diener – drums, percussion *Marcel Sude – spoken words *Mellika Meskine – female vocals Technical personnel * Fredrik Nordström – 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 heavy metal drummer for Passenger, The Fifth Sun, and Dream Evil. He has worked extensively in the famous Studio ...

– 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