Brazilian demons of the dark Nightwölf are a band that deliver mythologically infused metal to the hordes! We could not resist interviewing these guys to see what they are all about!

TheNwothm:  The mighty Nightwölf! It is a pleasure to be interviewing you! Can you tell us who is in the band and where you are from?

N.W: Hey everyone! It’s our pleasure! It’s awesome to talk to you! Well, Nightwölf is composed by Jack Znake on the vocals, our guitar duo Adan Hessen and Rafael Roan, João Videira on the drums and me, Guilherme de Almeida, on the bass. We are a Brazilian band from the capital, Distrito Federal.

TheNwothm:  Can you tell us about the formation of Nightwölf in 2017 and how you all came together as a band in Distrito Federal, Brazil?

N.W: Yeah! I met Adan some eight years ago when he played in a Dio cover band and he had this idea of forming an authoral Heavy Metal band. Fun fact is that I bought my first bass guitar a week after this conversation, I used to be a bad guitarist before that hahaha. Therefore, we invited two friends of mine with whom I used to play jams, Rafael for the guitars and Philipe for the drums, who ended up leaving and being replaced by João after a while. And both of us knew Jack from the past – I almost formed a band with him during high school, but we’ve never had a single rehearsal haha. So it is the five of us since then. 

TheNwothm:  We love discovering bands from different parts of the world! Can you tell us a bit about the part of Brazil you are from, the culture and the metal scene there?

N.W: Sure! Distrito Federal is one of the main centers of the Brazilian underground scene. For being the capital, the city attracts people from everywhere in Brazil, which brings lots of cultural diversity. For example, we have strong influence from the Northeast of the country, as well as Minas Gerais, which are known for their Extreme Metal scenes. Through the years Distrito Federal has delivered great and influential bands such as Violator, Valhalla, Miasthenia and – the one that is the main influence for us – Dark Avenger.

TheNwothm:  How does the band’s Brazilian heritage influence your music, lyrics, or overall style? 

N.W: I’d say that we do not intentionally show it like bringing Brazilian typical styles or instruments to our music, but the heritage is there. Brazil is known for its sticky and dancing music, if you translate that to Metal stuff you’d have grooved and headbanging anthems and, well, we are proud to have that haha.

Lyrically speaking, we inserted a song in our latest release, the album “The Cult of the Wolf”, that explores Afro-Brazilian mythology, one of our main themes. The song is “God of Iron”, which brings Ogun – a spirit, orisha, deity, entity, whatever you call him – to the hall of extremely Heavy Metal gods we find in mythologies worldwide.  

TheNwothm: Are there any particular themes or concepts that you aim to explore in your music?

N.W: Mythology in general, as I said, is a topic that we use to explore vastly in lyrics. If not as a main theme, there will certainly be references. It does not matter if Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Brazilian, Roman, African or Christian mythology- even literary mythologies that have never belonged to a people properly, Lovecraftian, for example – we use them all. In addition, Literature and Dark Fantasy are always around. I assure you that personally, since I write the lyrics haha.

TheNwothm: Who created your killer logo? And how did you choose the name?

N.W: The killer (thanks for that!) logo was drew by me. I tried to keep it classic but at the same time aggressive and really visual, in the sense of people getting the band in your shirt even before reading it. The umlaut is a Motörhead tribute, of course. The name was brought by Adan after many weeks of deep thought about it haha. We needed a remarkable name that could be easy for people to remember. Also for the Brazilian people, who mostly don’t speak English.

TheNwothm: Each member brings a unique element to Nightwölf. Could you each describe your role in the band and how you contribute to its distinctive sound? 

N.W: Sure! All of us have this traditional Heavy Metal love in common, of course, but at the same time we have outer influences which, when mixed in our music, somehow brings our identity. Jack has this high-pitched screaming style that brings us memories of Priest, Maiden, Vicious Rumors and also from the Brazilian Power Metal singer André Matos. Adan is a more classic guitarist influenced by Malmsteen, Michael Schenker, Van Halen, etc, which brings heavy melodies. Rafael is a more aggressive guitarist with influences of Dimebag and Zakk Wylde, bringing groove and wilderness. A great combination of guitars, in my opinion. João is this fast and precise drummer at the same time influenced by Progressive and Extreme Metal. For the bass, I am a huge Motörhead fan, so I keep it Lemmy-dirty at the same time that I approach to the tone between Joey DeMaio and Peter Baltes.

TheNwothm: What are your main inspirations or influences, both from within and outside the heavy metal genre? 

N.W: Within Heavy Metal our main influences couldn’t be others than Accept, Manowar, Judas Priest, Grave Digger, Mercyful Fate, Iced Earth, Saxon, Riot, you know, all that you’d expect and can find in our music haha. Outside Metal we would stick to classic Rock N’ Roll and Hard Rock bands, you know, Van Halen, Kiss, Hendrix, Skynyrd, Scorpions, etc., and if you dig even deeper you may find some classic Country music as well haha Johnny Cash was more metal than all of us, c’mon!

TheNwothm: And out of the bands and artists that have been an influence to you who have you seen in concert?

N.W: Oh we have seen Manowar recently, almost the whole band could attend to it. It was awesome! Great show, great set, those guys kill! Also, Saxon and Blind Guardian came to our city recently. Both were memorable! Besides that, most of us have already seen Judas Priest, Helloween, Maiden, etc. We really enjoy attending to concerts, even better if we do it together! We are looking forward to finally seeing Mercyful Fate now that they are back!

TheNwothm: Where did the idea for your image come about? How do you feel about a band having a strong brand to make themselves stand out?

N.W: Well, our image was all built according to the influences we got. All the leather and steel we use are purposefully to pay homage to the bands mentioned previously. Also, we feel like everything is for the live purpose, and when playing live one cannot simply get on stage with their pajamas and flip flops hahaha. The crowd is there to see a Heavy Metal band performance, which includes image and presence besides the music itself. So, yes, a band needs a strong brand to keep in people’s minds on the next day after the hangover passes haha.

TheNwothm: Your EP “Unleash the Beast” was released in 2020. Can you share some insights into the creative process and themes behind this EP?

N.W: Sure! This was our first release, so we were somewhat still maturing and becoming what we would be. The material of “Unleash the Beast” was written right after a short period of rapport we had while playing some cover songs, you know, to find our own style. Even the thematic ideas came when we started composing, you know, I had never written lyrics for real. Therefore, that was when we gathered all the themes we liked and thought that could work in the songs. We really like what we did there. However, two weeks after its release, the world was taken by the pandemics, so we could not promote it properly. Despite that, people seem to have enjoyed the EP.

TheNwothm: How do you approach writing and composing your songs? Is it a collaborative process, or does each member bring different pieces to the table? 

N.W: Well, Adan is the main riff creator. He brings the skeleton of the song which the whole band is going to work on. In a composing context, the next step is Jack putting the melody, screams and singing lines. Sometimes he gets it at the first trial. Then, João creates his machine-gun-like drumming and fills, determining tempos. Rafael helps to polish the song, brings ideas for interludes, etc., and adds his crazy freaking solos along with Adan’s more melodic ones. I bring the thunder and heaviness (haha) trying to keep the bass between the guitars and the drums.

After the song is done I got the second part of my job, which is writing the lyrics according to a topic we discussed previously. All of us got roles beside the music writing, you know, for example, Rafael makes all the merchandising himself, João takes care of social media, Adan books shows, etc.

TheNwothm: Can you share the creative process behind your 2023 single “Kill the Light”? What is the story or message behind this song? 

N.W: That was, actually, one of the first songs we made for the new album. “Kill the Light” came out very easily because it is a straight song. Adan wrote this heavy sticky riff and Jack immediately started to sing and recorded it. When we heard it we said “that’s it!”. Then, of course, we started to really work on it.

It has a very simple story: it’s Dracula. As I said, dark fantasy is also something you will find in our music, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a book all of us love. I attempted to write it in a deeper way, different from what is already out there, ‘cause, well, we know the best Dracula song will always be Iced Earth’s. Therefore, I added broader references as the Garden of Eden, from where the sons of Cain have been banned and have become evil itself, which, according to Christian mythology means… us.

TheNwothm: With regards to each of the artworks for the releases who created them? They look amazing and feel cohesive!

N.W: Yeah, the artworks for the cover of both “The Cult of the Wolf” and “Unleash the Beast” have been made by Bebeto Daroz, a Brazilian artist who lives in Rio de Janeiro. He has this awesome Frazetta style that makes reference to Conan and classic comics, which has all to do with our thematic. The artwork for the single “Kill the Light” was made bt Yuri Del Duca, also a great artist from our city.

TheNwothm: Your full-length album “The Cult of the Wolf” came out in 2023. What does this album represent for you as a band, and how does it reflect your journey so far? 

N.W: “The Cult of the Wolf” is finally our debut as a full length, and we are really glad with the result and all the feedback we had so far. The reviews are amazing. People seem to be getting all the references and enjoying all the tracks almost equally, it’s awesome!

The album represents our maturation as a band, I could say. It has exactly every element we thought for it, as well as the production, mixing, mastering… It sounds precisely as it was meant to. I think it means a preparation for the next steps, we are a young band and our journey has just begun.

TheNwothm: Can you discuss the lyrical themes and musical influences that pervade “The Cult of the Wolf”? 

N.W: Of course! The lyrical themes of the title track “The Cult of the Wolf” revolves around the myth of Lycaon, the king of the greek city of Arcadia. It is said that the city had a sacrificial altar in the name of Zeus and cannibal practices tied to it. Zeus got really pissed off when he knew of it and disguised himself as a foreigner to check if this was true. Guess what? They tried to sacrifice the god. At that moment he revealed himself and killed all Lycaon’s sons – but one, who was fair-, as well as sent the flood that drowned every kind of life and cursed Lycaon to wander eternally in the form of a wolf. Thus, it is the Greek story for the first werewolf.

This is the song with the most cadence you will find in the record. I’d say we have some very Iced Earth gallop pickings at the fast part and the rest is almost as dragged as a doom Sabbath song. We were recently asked about having Death Metal influences on it. And in fact you can find them. It’s fun to see people guessing where our influences came from for this one.

TheNwothm: Any favourite tracks from the new album?

N.W: I would pick the title track “The Cult of the Wolf” and “God of Iron”, I love them. The other guys’ favorites would be “Do & Die”, “Reign in Metal” and “Kill the Light”, mostly.

TheNwothm: With the global music scene constantly evolving, how does Nightwölf work to stand out and keep your sound fresh?

N.W: First of all, we have to play with passion the music we love, be it on the studio or on the stage. We got to keep the flame burning, you know. We are metalheads, so if we like what we write we are half way there. The world runs fast these days but good organic music survives, while those plastic-made bands produced by the industry are forgotten. We have to make sure we are set on the first group haha.  

TheNwothm: What can fans expect from Nightwölf in the near future? Are there any upcoming tours, new releases, or projects in the works?

N.W: Well, we have just released “The Cult of the Wolf” a couple months ago, so we got to promote it. We are planning to release at least two more videos and we want to play loud in places and festivals we still haven’t. That’s the plan up to now. We have frequently been asked about a US and Europe tour, and, sincerely, we don’t know when that is going to happen, but we hope soon.

TheNwothm: Where can fans get your music and merch?

N.W: Well, if you are in Brazil you can buy it straight from Kill Again Records website: www.killagainrec.com.
If you’re in the US, Europe or Asia contact us and we will direct you to our seller in your area.

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

NW: I’d like to thank you in behalf of Nightwölf. Websites like TheNWOTHM, dedicated to the promotion of the underground scene worldwide, are what keep the gears turning. In addition, thanks to everyone everywhere who appreciate our music and buy our merch! Keep sending us your feedbacks on “The Cult of the Wolf”, it has been awesome!
Stay Metal!