ALBUM REVIEW: Witches Hammer – Devourer Of The Dead

Canadian Speed Metal legends WITCHES HAMMER are back with their 2nd album, set for release on December 25th via Nuclear War Now Productions. Read my review of their debut LP here.

Howling winds begin our blasphemous journey before crushing guitars road into life with cymbals, in true epic Heavy Metal fashion. Building a bestial tension, ready to be unbridled, the masterfully tense songwriting hits instantly before throwing us into an onslaught of pure thrashing hellfire. Blasting drums and gnarly bass back up a vicious reign of razor-sharp riffing which hits all of the diabolical pinnacles of Extreme Metal for the vocalists rabid roar to spew profanity upon. This is real fury, pure untamed Metal with a timelessly feral sound that cannot be stopped. A bombastic avalanche of pure unholy might ensures the beginning of this record is nothing short of high-octane, skin-blistering savagery of triumphant, evil proportions. After keeping fans waiting from ’84 to 2020 for their debut full length, this fast follow-up has not lost any quality since its predecessor, in fact continuing mercilessly in the vein that made the debut so damned killer.

Decimating all in their path with a fatally precise aggression that goes straight for the jugular, these maniacs know how to deliver true Heavy Metal warfare with a sonic artillery that leaves nothing left alive. Shredding solos add more frenzy to the already chaotic excellence of the band while the battering drums continually ensure the tightness is punctual and the riffing is able to destroy with no remorse. Having such energetic instrumental performances requires a masterful barbarian to executed the vocals properly, which thankfully Rayy Crude does. It seems the album is flying past in a tornado of broken bodies and general warped chaos, which it is. This thing is so fast and heavy that you blink and you miss some killer riffing or maniacal break, so pay attention! Knowing when to be primitive, utilised a technical flourish of crisp bass line and when to unleash total carnage, this album moves along at skull-crushing speed but in a very natural manner. Those who want a bit of background noise will be destroyed, this is for true rabid maniacs only.

The title is certainly fitting to the music, as is the artwork, giving us a complete package of soul-devouring madness that is truly exemplary cut of Speed Metal malice. Although I have focussed on the sheer ferocity of this album, it still has plenty of atmosphere, in the terror-inducing manner that was present on all the early Extreme Metal releases when genres were a melting pot of Metal might. This is blasphemous, crude and yet refined in the sense of delivering truly wicked music, a space Witches Hammer have occupied on all their stellar releases (prior to the debut LP, there was an array of marvellous demos and EPs). Forging forward with gadarene fury, this fiery quintet unleash pure rabid hell once more.

This is no better or worse than “Damnation Is My Salvation”, it is a forceful, magnificent and daunting follow up that continues to obliterate with pure Speed Metal destruction.