Witchery promise great things and deliver in their latest.
With member-links to popular bands such as Arch Enemy and having toured with such bands as Borknagar and Emperor, from name-dropping alone you can suspect there is something worth looking into about Witchery. And you'd be right. 'Don't Fear The Reaper', their 4th full-length album is one of the albums to listen to this springtime if you call yourself a fan of Metal.
From the opening almost-tribal drums of 'Disturbing The Beast' to the devilishly and rhythmically heavy closer 'Cannonfodder' this is simply an album made of top notch, high quality metal tunes. So much so indeed, that it is hard to really pick any particular album highlights without feeling you've missed out on some hidden nugget. However, if forced to do so it would simply have to be the crunchy-riffed 'Ashes' and the track 'Plague Rider' with its delicious guitar solo work. It is usually either the hallmark of a truly great or a truly abysmal album when it is hard to pick out the best tracks on offer, thankfully 'Don't Fear The Reaper' is the former!
One of the most enjoyable aspects of 'Don't Fear The Reaper' is simply how Witchery effortlessly merge the influence of such classic metal bands as Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Accept with a modern heavy-death metal sound to great effect. Taking all the best aspects from the bands that influenced them and adding a couple of new licks, so that unoriginality can never be levelled as a complaint against this album, 'Dont Fear The Reaper' mixes the classic formula of tried-and-tested styles, innovation and good, solid song writing. The band, although clocking in slightly under the usual expected album length at 45 minutes, manage to make what they do put into this time have such substance that I simply didn't notice this fact at first. Whilst many bands with an album of such length could do with an extra song or two to really round off the package satisfactorily
All in all, 'Don't Fear The Reaper' can be described in one word, Solid. This album may not have the newest of the new techiques, it may not be what is fashionable or in vogue, and it may not be the first purchase that leaps to mind when you're in your local record store. Regardless of this, Witchery's latest output is well worth putting an effort into hearing, for it simply reaps dividends to the listener in quality.