ALBUM REVIEW: Bewitcher – Cursed Be Thy Kingdom

Black-Speed Metal maniacs BEWITCHER are back with their heavily anticipated 3rd album, set for release via Century Media Records on April 16th.

Acoustic guitars bring the album in with a western feeling like that of approaching battle out in desert plains or a bar fight, perhaps both equally fitting for a sleazy inferno of Extreme Metal carnage. Bluesy lead work adds that tasty groove to the introduction and begins our descent into hades. Blistering riffs punch in with melodic speeding fury as chunky bass lines cut right through before d-beats and maniacal vocals pulverise atop the axe-assault, delivering catchy and ferociously excitable Black-Speed of the highest order. The anthemic 80s choruses betwixt bulldozing verses make for a memorable and unfaltering performance that fires right from the cannon, starting as they mean to go on with savage and relentless butchery of all things lame, cutting right through the walls between the 80s and present day.

There is a strong presence of that thin line when the NWOBHM and Speed Metal collided with this morbid blackened edge tying it all together with an air of mystique and danger, while not dampening the razor-sharp aggression or pungent first wave approach to the primal onslaught. With a recent boom in bands transporting us back to the breaking out of Extreme Metal, Bewitcher clearly fall into the camp of genuine old school maniacs who with to preserve the classic traditions, rather than adding derivative blandness to the mixing pot. The potency of each song in their anthemic, fearsome and monstrously intoxicating glories speaks more than enough for themselves, while the overall fluidity of the record that holds ones attention effortless from start to end of its 37 minute running time also speaks volumes. As we soldier on, these Metal warriors to not yield.

With a sound such as this, it is easy for every song to blur into one cacophony of a singular riff atop a plain d-beat. Bewitcher however utilise their arsenal of Heavy, Black, Speed and Thrash Metal (plus some of the more vicious punk) to deliver a thrilling listen that transfigures and warps into various configurations of molten steel, always rebuilding to a stance of total domination while rarely taking the same pathway twice. Alongside their speeding brethren such as Whipstriker, Hellripper, Midnight and many other killer acts, this ancient mystical Metal is certainly not going anywhere, anytime soon. With a storm of spikes, chains, bullets and leather in tow, you will be banging your head and pumping your fists throughout, that I can guarantee. A superb effort that is a deserving and majestic follow up to the wonderful “Under The Witching Cross” and shows that moving to a larger label and growing has not made the band compromise a single thing while improving their already impeccable talent.

Once more, these fast-rising stalwarts of Black-Speed Metal glory have delivered a precious slice of old-meets-new, bringing the traditional Metal might of days long gone into a formidable package that does not compromise yet feels relevant today.