FRENZY FIRE
METAL & ROCK REVIEWS
Hexenhammer
|
FRENZY FIRE |
||||||
|
METAL & ROCK REVIEWS |
||||||
| HOME | ||||||
| REVIEWS | ||||||
| ARTISTS | ||||||
| UPCOMING | ||||||
| LINKS | ||||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Hexenhammer |
||||||
| Burning Witches are an all female heavy metal band from Switzerland formed in 2015, who released their debut album 'Burning Witches' in 2017. The four song live E.P. 'Burning Alive' was released at the beginning of 2018, with the bands second album 'Hexenhammer' released at the end of 2018. | ||||||
| Very heavily influenced by the iconic NWOBHM sound, Burning Witches launch into the next chapter of their musical career with their second full length offering, 'Hexenhammer'. If you're looking for an album that is genre changing and career defining, you ain't gonna find it here... What you are gonna find though, is eleven songs of unadulterated, unabashed, foot on the monitor style, traditional heavy metal. 'The Witch Circle' is an atmospheric and haunting intro, breathing life into the new album as it gets underway proper with the bombastic and buzzing 'Executed'. Up tempo and full of energy, 'Executed' is a galloping cacophony of full steam ahead heavy metal. During the eighties NWOBHM evolution, the likes of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest set the standard for all comers to follow, with Burning Witches delivering the same exhilarating excitement that the aforementioned icons did, and (of course) still do! 'Lords Of War' is a mighty melodic foot stomper, hitting hard and swinging harder. Head bangingly addictive with a chant style chorus, 'Lords Of War' is a happy mood inducing heavy metal romp. With jack hammer style riffage, 'Open Your Mind' is heavy and raucous and resembles the sound of American heavy metal band Phantom Blue, and their self titled debut album from 1989. | ||||||
| Out of place like a clown at a funeral, 'Don't Cry My Tears' is a ballad, and has no place on a heavy metal album. For those readers that follow me and my reviews, you know ballads are not my most favourite style of music, and should be reserved for AOR and hard rock albums. Now don't get me wrong, some ballads are superbly sung, and ooze emotion from start to finish, but for me, Burning Witches are a heavy metal band and are much more adept at full on, in your face, galloping heavy metal. Sorry girls, but 'Don't Cry My Tears' is a no from me... Thankfully, the album takes an immediate upward turn with the shuddering and anthemic 'Maiden Of Steel'. Manowar and Sabaton take a step back and let Burning Witches take centre stage with a call to arms style barrage of pulsating heavy metal fused with power metal. All together now, "maiden of steel, try to destroy what you fear, maiden of steel". Awesome stuff... 'Dungeon Of Infamy' is a short effects laden intro that leads into the Dio-esque 'Dead Ender'. Marching at a slow tempo, doom laden riffs aplenty, 'Dead Ender' is a bone cruncher, a skull crusher, a fucking heavy slab of heavy metal that'll whack you viciously around the head. | ||||||
| The title song 'Hexenhammer' is a blistering foray of furious heavy metal, guaranteed to make even the laziest fan get up and head bang. Fists will be punching the air in delight as 'Hexenhammer' storms on at full tilt, guitars buzzing like a massive swarm of bees. The iconic sound of the NWOBHM rises high as 'Hexenhammer' stretches its legs over a six minutes plus length. Scorching pace greets the listener as 'Possession' flies into sight and races off at high velocity. Bordering on the thrash metal genre, 'Possession' is a thunderous and stunning foray of furiously frenetic and fast heavy metal. Now when I heard there was a cover song on the album and saw the tracklist had a song titled 'Maneater', I was aghast at the thought that Burning Witches had covered an eighties Daryl Hall & John Oates classic... But thank fuck I was wrong! 'Maneater' by Burning Witches is another heavy doom laden romp, with a most aggressive vocal performance by the bands singer Seraina Telli. The cover song I'd heard about is actually 'Holy Diver', the Dio classic from the 1983 album of the same name. And what a fucking cover it is. From the opening "yeah, yeah", through all the power riffs and doom laden feel, Burning Witches have got this one spot on. The pace is kept to that of the original, with the haunting and theatrical atmosphere present too. | ||||||
| Overall, a sparkling album of full on, galloping heavy metal, with a superb cover song to round off the album in cracking style. | ||||||
| Review by Iron Mathew Collins | ||||||
| Reviewed for Metal Gods TV | ||||||
| Other Reviews | ||||||
|
|
||||||
| Burning Witches | ||||||
| "heavily influenced by the eighties NWOBHM evolution, this album is packed to the rafters with blistering heavy metal, that is both catchy and infectious" Read Review | ||||||
|
|
||||||
| Burning Witches + Burning Alive | ||||||
| "an opportunity to own two releases in one package, the live songs on offer displaying the power and energy of Burning Witches during a live performance" Read Review | ||||||
|
|
||||||
| Wings Of Steel E.P. | ||||||
| "a very good way to introduce their new singer - a polished studio recording and an energetic live performance" Read Review | ||||||
|
|
||||||
| Dance With The Devil | ||||||
| "a glorious romp of heavy metal - fast, furious, aggressive yet highly melodic, 'Dance With The Devil' is bliss from the Swiss five piece" Read Review | ||||||
|
|
||||||
| The Witch Of The North | ||||||
| "a very heavy yet melodic album of hard hitting heavy metal, showing progression and maturity from their previous releases" Read Review | ||||||
|
|
||||||
| The Dark Tower | ||||||
| "fast paced and highly head bang-able, 'The Dark Tower' is an infectious heavy metal gallop" Read Review | ||||||
| Top | ||||||