Witchery – Don’t Fear The Reaper

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impulse buy

Century Media
Produced by True Madsen

I’ll admit, I only gave this album a chance because it has the phenomenal Martin Axenrot (Bloodbath) on drums, whom I’ve twice witnessed standing in for Opeth drummer Martin Lopez. Anyone that can learn Opeth drum parts in a matter of days is worthy of immense respect. And, thanks to this, I’ve discovered a cracking record as a result.

For those unfamiliar with Witchery, their brand of black metal has a more traditional heavy metal approach than most. A little more like UK legends Venom. Featuring Arch Enemy/Mercyful Fate bassist Sharlee D’Angelo, and former Satanic Slaughter bandmates Patrick Jensen (guitars, also of The Haunted), Toxine (vocals) and Richard Corpse (guitars), Don’t Fear The Reaper is an unrelenting metal tirade that can easily transcend the boundaries of metal tastes.

Toxine possesses that rare quality in extreme metal vocalists of being intelligible. Few others seem to be capable/willing. This makes Witchery’s music much more appealing to a broader spectrum of metal fans than your average death/black metal record. Add this facet of the sound to a traditional, yet exceptionally heavy, metal approach and brilliantly intricate and varied (not 100mph for forty minutes!) drums and any metal fan should be more than able to enjoy this record, or at the very least appreciate the talent on display. Something that’s very hard to do in other cases.

It’s very hard to pick stand-out tracks from this album. That’s not because they’re all the same. It’s because they are literally all good. Every track has excellent riffs, none of which are too similar or hang around too long, classic song structure (choruses you could sing along to under normal circumstances) and inventive and original solos. Cross Fixation is a prime example of the originality of some of the lead guitar, and no song demonstrates the awesome musicianship on this album better than the instrumental The Wait of The Pyramids, while closer Cannonfodder is a very poignant war song that’s more Slayer-style thrash than the rest of the tracks, ending the album on a high-paced and brutal note, rather than the winding down that most albums do at the end. A nice change of pace.

Witchery have created an album that should become a true classic of metal. Something with a wider appeal than the niche the media have previously placed the band in should always prove successful, and this is no exception. Well worth checking out regardless of which sub-genre of metal you think it is you like best.

“ unrelenting ”

Tracklist: Disturbing The Beast / Stigmatized / Draw Blood / Ritual / Ashes / Plague Rider / Damned In Hell / Crossfixation / The Wait of The Pyramids / Immortal Death / Styx / War Piece / Cannonfodder

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Death Metal, Witchery