 |
| ||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
| - | |||||||||||||||
| Review | |||||||||||||||
|
After a not-so-well-recepted fourth album (Don't Fear the Reaper), Witchery return to pull out all the stops for their fifth full-length opus, Witchkrieg, a more superb, hard hitting album that better resembles the band and it's Speed and Thrash Metal roots. The only problem here is that Witchkrieg simply cannot live up to the band's first few recordings, even though this release seems to show a bit of a progression within the group towards a reinvention of their old ways. While this seems like a fantastic idea, there's slower paced tracks on here that seem to stem as material one would hear on a Vader record that just don't quite live up to the rest of the album. This is also the first album with former Marduk member Erik "Legion" Hagstedt handling vocal duties. Witchrkieg winds up starting off with your now typical introduction to a Metal album of having a random sound effect, in this case rain, starting the song with an introductory riff played behind it, but muffled very low, then slowing down to a halt as if this were being played on an old record player. Once the music kicks in, however, it's genuine Speed and Thrash insanity. "Witchkrieg" winds up being a fantastic track that is full of adrenaline and anger with rhaspy screams that sometimes are sometimes deeply distorted and work well with the music that if songs could hurt, chances are you'd be dead right from the start. The solo here is exceptional as well, and the entire song flows fluidly with sheer intensity and plenty of speed throughout to create a very heavy, evil, and intimidating opening track to the album that leaves the listener with great expectations from the album, and in many cases the song does prepare you for what's to come, much like the equally as heavy following track "Wearer of Wolf's Skin", which really focuses on speed and technical guitar riffs through most of the track, though as you come to the end things do slow down a bit, but doesn't quite have that evil or intimidating factor "Witchkrieg" sets you up with. For as talented as the faster songs can be, there's also a strng focus on slower material present on this release. While these tracks have the potential to be really enjoyable, they come off a bit too bland, generic, and just really aren't as good as the others on this release while often bringing in a slight Vader musical quality with them. "The God Who Fell From Earth" is one of the better tracks in the end. This slower paced song sounds good due to the strong, bewitching guitar and drums brought in, but it's only problem is that sometimes the verses will just seem a bit drawn out until the guitar solo, which is really when the song picks up a bit as the solo is impressive, and the ending of the song becomes more powerful then the rest of the song. However, the next slower track, "Conqueror's Return", doesn't necessarily offer anything of any real interest through the song, leaving this track feeling more like a filler with hints of the previous song thrown in for good measure with the structure of the song it's self. Unfortunately, the track "Witchkrieg" winds up being the only really intimidating track on the album. While the rest of the material on here is greatly enjoyable outside of the slower tracks "The God Who Fell From Earth" and "Conqueror's Return", there's nothing else that really comes close to the excitement that this track creates for the listener. But, this doesn't mean they are horrible songs that will ultimately grow boring after a few spins. "Devil Rides Out" is the closest thing to "Witchkrieg" as far as how the song is performed, and even includes some vocal distortion rather similar to it as well. Aside those similarities, the song flows at a traditional mid-pace, which is really have the album goes after "Conqueror's Return", and seems to just chug along with some traditional Thrash riffs that are well executed throughout the song to give off a somewhat dark and war-like atmosphere to the song. "Witch Hunter" also shares the same qualities as "One Foot in the Grave", and really stands out more due to how the song is performed. The song is a straight forward Speed Metal song that just keeps hammering away at you with plenty of heavy guitars, superbly paced drumming, and a lower vocal performance that utilizes vocal distortion properly to create a rather haunting atmosphere to the song that goes nicely with the more occult-based lyrics. There's a lot going on with the song, but the song feels rather out of place due to everything that is incorporated into the song. Either way, "Witch Hunter" really stands out in a good way, and also ends up being a great track to close the album out on. Unless you happen to have the version with the bonus track "Hung, Drawn and Quartered", which really winds up being a more traditional Thrash Metal song that incorporates some of the distortion ideas presented through the album, primarily from "Witch Hunter" though, and isn't the most impressive track of the album, but is still an enjoyable one for what it is. After examining the songs, other factors come into play that don't necessarily hinder the album, but rather come off as nice additions. Witchkrieg boasts plenty of guest solos performed by various well known members of the metal community, with six guests total on five songs. The list features Kerry King of Slayer on "Witchkrieg", Hank Shermann of Mercyful Fate on "The God Who Fell From Earth", Gary Holt and Lee Altus of Exodus on "The Reaver", Andy Larocque of King Diamond on "From Dead To Worse", and Jim Durking of Dark Angel on "One Foot in the Grave". However, even though all these guest solo musicians are incorporated, and the solos they execute are fantastic, one other major aspect lingers with this album. Witchkrieg is also the first Witchery album with Erik "Legion" Hagstedt, formerly of Marduk fame, handling the vocals for the band, and in all honesty it sounds fantastic and gives it a stronger edge then the band has had before, really fitting in with the music presented here, but ultimately coming off bland on "The God Who Fall From Earth" and "Conqueror's Return", though a still impressive performance. The only problem with them here would be track "One Foot in the Grave" which sounds a little amateurish at the start of the song with how the material is performed. Either way, Witchkrieg is a fantastic album that does have it's faults, but practically all of it winds up working well together, including the vocals of "Legion" on this release. The only sad part about this release is that nothing really has the same impact as the openning title track, "Witchkrieg", and leaves the listening wanting more along those lines. Hopefully, Witchery will continue to work on material such as that for future releases, but what it comes down to is that this release is an enjoyable throwback to the intensity of earlier Thrash and Speed metal acts with a great Swedish musicial twist to the mix that makes this release one for fans of the styles to simply not ignore. Witchkrieg is easily one of the band's better albums, and a clear sign that this band will continue to be a solid act that continues to put out promising releases. |
|||||||||||||||
| - | |
 |
|