Witchery - Witchkrieg



So, I written about them previously several times, and this wasn't enough.

It didn't detail to the extent that I'd like why the newest incarnation of Witchery-- is truly awesome.... I still, 3 years after its release, listen to this bad boy first, over even the most hip, new, Truly Dominating metal.

It's good. You come, you hear it now.

The greatest deathrash track ever is opener "Witchkrieg..." complete with Kerry King solo and great chorus....

Next is "Wearer of Wolf Skin," not the best track on here, but still ferocious... still thrashy, Mercyful Fate-y, with death growl vocals from a former black metal vocalist of some renown who's also got a sense of humor about his lyrical content....

"The God Who Fell From Earth" follows, with its churning central riff and somehow very self-aware vocals that still manage to describe the life of a deity who's come back to the human world many millennia after he's been forgotten... this is almost something that a novelist should tackle, and yet vocalist Legion does a great job in the limited stanzas herein....

"The Reaver" is a deaththrash version of every truly great horror movie of the last 30 years (not sure if Legion knows the Joss Whedon/ Firefly legacy of the word, but that's not important right now).... "From Dead to Worse," is a great king diamond/ MF-ish ode to metal ruffs and why they are awesome... "Devil Rides Out" is the thumping singular bass and drums riff of the year... "One Foot in the Grave" is both a great rhythmic Heavy Metal tune with thrash aspirations but still sounding something like a Swedish, possessed (not "Possessed") Armored Saint might write... "Hellhound" struts and thumps, a slower, groovier track of these, and closer "Witchhunter" sounds like Motörhead if they were more into the occult. And were Scandinavian.

Also, the production/ mix is great: loud and sharply clear without being obnoxiously clipped or omitting crucial sound dynamics, and lastly the drums are nearly always in the pocket, but not Pro Tools-tracked, annoyingly-acurately so.

Well done, gents. I still can't say enough about Witchkrieg.

--Horn


Comments

Anonymous said…
I completely agree with this review. I've been listening to this album on a regular basis since it came out. Witchery kicks ASS.