Witchburner - Bloodthirsty Eyes (2013)

Witchburner's the kind of band I've always really wanted to like more than I do; in no small part due to the sort of aesthetics they bring to the table, a very down to earth retrospective of what made the nastier side of speed and thrash metal so hellishly fresh in the mid through late 80s. Granted, they've only had a few full-lengths that were above average (in particular Incarnation of Evil was a standout), and none that were exemplary, but in a world where newer, comparable German bands like Ketzer, Nocturnal and Cruel Force are receiving solid underground recognition, I think it is important that this band, who formed in fucking 1992 and have seven albums under their belt, get a little more credit for always bringing that blackened, death-driven thrash and speed metal...

That said, the music Witchburner writes in of itself is not all that unique. Combine the crisp mid 80s Reign in Blood guitar tone with Possessed vocals, and season liberally with lyrical themes and imagery redolent of Venom, Piledriver, Sodom, Destruction, Kreator, Bulldozer, Infernal Majesty, and Hobbs' Angel of Death not to mention the elephant in the room I already hinted at. The Germans' quickened clips of high velocity old school reek of Hell Awaits or Reign in Blood, only they feel less explosive by virtue that we've already been exposed to similar for decades. I'd actually posit that a number of the note progressions here feel so generic and tired that they should have been left off the album entirely, like the descending tremolo pattern after 1:30 in "Path of the Sinner", brings nothing new to the table to the extent that it actually cracks the table in half with age. Throughout Bloodthirsty Eyes, the leads are usually the same atonal rabble that was so popular in the 80s, only none of them really scream out at you. Bass is pumping and deep, but the lines rarely do anything so interesting, and the drum beats are fairly stock, the one thing that might separate them from their forebears would be the more even double kick hammering.

Witchburner has a new vocalist here, one Pino Hecker, who replaces Metallic Mayhem with a set of Jeff Becera pipes. Seriously, if Jeff suddenly wanted to revert to bass, this guy could serve as a stand in for the original with ease. On the one hand, those who love the style will be ecstatic, but while I do like the way Hecker's inflection bludgeons and resonates over the brisk, flighty trails of the guitars, it does grow a fraction monotonous at times, and the more seclusive snarls and growls don't really compensate. But if the band had been composing some top notch material here, it would come together like napalm gel and an unsuspecting village. Sadly, that's just not the case. I've got a natural attraction to this style, which is slightly more death/ thrash than black/thrash, but though the songs here move along with an acceptable confidence, too few of the riffs stand out from the writhing mass. Addicts of acts like Deathhammer, Aura Noir, Antichrist and the three German bands I rattled off in the top paragraph would find themselves in familiar territory here, which is enough to provide a cursory, visceral enjoyment of the album, but little more. Not bad, but not as good as their last disc Demons (from 2010) or Incarnation of Evil.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

http://www.witchburner.de/

Witchburner - Demons (2010)

Demons is the 6th full-length for Germany's Witchburner, one of the longer surviving black/thrash hybrid bands out there, whether or not they've made much of a dent in their time. It does not deviate whatsoever from what the band have released in the decade leading up to it, with a fast, barbaric sound very similar to the Swedish Witchery (before they let themselves go), though the Germans had a jump on them by about a half-decade. The muffled growls remind me somewhat of Toxiene's vox on the first two Witchery CDs, and the blazing riffs channel all manner of old Teutonic thrash influences, in addition to the prototype black thrash metal of Bathory, Possessed, Slayer and so forth.

Thankfully, Demons has a leg up on both Final Detonation and Blood of Witches. Though it's style is identical, they've put just that much more effort into the writing, and the riffs here often reek of fresh carrion. which the avid fan of this sub-genre will devour like a rabid hellhound. "Break the Skulls", "Raise the Blade", "Seeds of Evil" all have more intricate riffs than what I'm used to from the band; rather than just roll out chords in bland patterns, they use crisp and catchy notations that really thrust the album forward with a glory reminiscent of the early, charging Kreator and Sodom records. The album slows down only rarely, for "Dynasty of Fear" and the opening sequences of the generally mid-paced "Beheaded by the Axe", but it creates just enough dynamic recoil from the speedsters that it flows altogether well.

Witchburner still has a few shortcomings, namely the general dearth of mindblowing riffs and leads, and the inability to come up with the great chorus hooks of their influences, but they've done a fair enough job to keep someone interested. Outside of Incarnation of Evil, this is probably their best album to date, but there is a ways to go before the German band can compete with the far more potent Scandinavian forces like Aura Noir, Bewitched, and so forth, or even their countrymen Nocturnal, who perform a similar style with better writing. That said, if you believe a bullet belt is a formal accessory for any occasion, then you'll proudly burst this record through your speakers until the poseurs are lit aflame.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.witchburner.de/

Witchburner - Blood of Witches (2007)

The worst thing in writing a review for an album like Blood of Witches is that I feel like I just wrote it for the previous album by Witchburner: Final Detonation. I could probably cut and paste most of that and just repeat myself, but in the interest of fairness and completeness, I shall not. Blood of Witches carries the same general tone, same quality of the riffing and absolutely no deviation from the band's morning dose of coffee, cigarettes, Sodom, Kreator, Slayer and Destruction, so if you're not feeling that impulse towards blackened thrash metal, then seek your thrills elsewhere. This is a band obsessed with their spikes, leather, and occult metal classicism, and that's unlikely to change until the day they depart us.

Witchburner can play their instruments and they've got a good, solid tone going for this style, though it's presence might lack some of the more viral, rugged charm of the 80s icons it does its best to emulate. They are fast, and they are amused, and there are honestly a handful of cuts here that rather do make my own cut. "Dirty City" transforms from a pretty stock mid pace to a frantic bridge, and I enjoyed the lead sequence in there, which is atmospheric like the smoggy, polluted high rises of the titular geographical entity. "Follow of the Slaughterer", "Blood of Witches" and the "Night of the Drinking Dead" all deliver their morbid, brutal payload with uncaring precision, and these all feature at least 1-2 passing, if familiar riffs, certainly able to thrill fans of similar black/thrash hybrids like Sweden's Witchery. "Rock 'n 'Roller initially seems to betray the rest with a foolish, bluesy metal swagger, but it soon too transforms into a feral blast of evil speed metal that falls in line with the bulk of the material here.

In all, I'd say that Blood of Witches is slightly more entertaining than its predecessor, but the band still doesn't have that extra hellish gasoline it needs to rise above its emulated gods. Witchburner is consistent, yes, but they're consistent at writing songs that aren't liable to pull anyone away from the original pioneers of this sound unless they're dead-set on reproducing the same energy, the same lyrics, paraphrased titles and so forth (though I think "Fist as Order" is a good one). Throw a damned surprise or two in the midst of these songs, and it might help define the straightforward riffing and blasphemous spit of the vocals that much more. As it stands, there are too few moments of carnal elegance, of memorable craft here to give it more than a handful of lessons and forget about it. The enthusiasm is here in spades, but those spades would be better served digging up the songs that are buried six feet beneath the band's boots.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

http://www.witchburner.de/

Witchburner - Final Detonation (2005)

I'd never been much of a fan of Witchburner, but their 2001 album Incarnation of Evil threatened to change my opinion, with some truly vicious riffing and vocals that brought the whole primal black/thrash aesthetic to bear. They spent a few years dicking around with some EPs and split recordings after that, but returned in 2005 with Final Detonation, which it not actually a 'final' anything, but more of the same. There's a consistent, level production value here which some of their previous efforts might have lacked, but I actually found the writing to be all too straightforward in its worship of old Sodom, Kreator, Destruction, Possessed and Slayer, so much so that there are few if any riffs that capture the bestial quality that was rampant in the 80s.

It's just a steady, unswerving homage with the appropriate cutting leads, old school Mille/Tom Angelripper gremlin vocals, and doesn't really explode in your face like some of their older tunes ("German Thrashing War"). Everything from the rapid "Iron League" to the Slayer-like, evil intro of "Master of Hell" is executed with sincerity, and the crisp battering ram tone of the guitar ensures that the material is something more than lifeless, but it's not until the 5th track, "Thrash Till Death" that the riffs found any register on my conscience. Sadly, by this time I already had a much better "Thrash Till Death" ringing around in my skull, and the rest of the album also stakes out its share of lyrical derivation "Alcohol Patrol", "Bloody Countess", and so forth. There is one song in there, "Warlord (Ruler of the World)" which I found to be fairly engaging with a few guitar lines that might have been cult classics were they birthed in another era, but this is heavily outnumbered.

The primal drive behind black/thrash metal is foremost its razor, ripping level of intensity and excitement, and though Final Detonation is not exactly crossing the finish line at a turtle pace, it just lacks for more than a phoned in feeling of restless discontent. It only ever concerns itself with being adequate and never with tossing the torch over the gathering crowd and actually burning the namesake witch. It's definitely not the measure of its full-length predecessor, and if given a choice, I'd probably even listen to 1998's Blasphemic Assault over this. Success seems to ever elude this fairly long term German act, and with an album like this, it is not difficult to reason out why.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://www.witchburner.de/

Witchburner - Arrival of the Last Storm/Dead City EP (2003)

While I wasn't entirely impressed with the Germans' previous EP, German Thrashing War, that at least contained a fair amount of material for the Witchburner devotee to digest. The following year, they'd release a super limited edition 7" that is honestly nothing more than a collector's item for those who wanna splurge a few bucks on a nice black/white cover image and flash their exotic and rare finds in front of other collectors. There is one redundant original track here, also having appeared on the last release, "Arrival of the Last Storm", which is solid sounding but ultimately average speed/thrash metal with the prototypical blackened rasp vocal style, and then a cover of Violent Force's "Dead City".

That particular track doesn't do a lot for me, but it's one of the then-defunct German thrashers most popular, having appeared as the title track for numerous demos throughout the mid-80s and then landed it's slot as the opener for their full-length Malevolent Assault of Tomorrow. It's a basic piece with repeated riffing and a half-assed, wild lead, pretty similar to a lot of the fare you'd hear from Tankard's Zombie Attack debut. The Witchburner rendition follows closely to the original, with the obvious better production that one would expect from 16 years of technological advancement in sound recording, but it doesn't suddenly become a better listen. The best thing, in fact, about this release is the cover art, which might have served the band better adorning a full-length, but despite its nostalgic violence, there's just nothing more to say. If you collect rare vinyl from retrospective thrash bands, then you are the only market for this, otherwise, don't even think twice. The Violent Force homage might be pretty cult for its time, I'd be less surprised by underground bands going back and covering it today, but it's not very good and doesn't warrant attention.

Verdict: Epic Fail [1.25/10]

http://www.witchburner.de/

Witchburner - German Thrashing War EP (2002)

Despite their general lack of contributing anything new to the genre of black/thrash, Witchburner have kept themselves busy in their adoration of the past, releasing a good number of splits outside of their full-length studio albums. They also released a pair of EPs in the early 21st century that bridged the years between Incarnation of Evil and Final Detonation, and German Thrashing War is the first of these, clocking in at under 20 minutes that unfortunately peaks quite early with the title track. This is a pretty limited release, and Witchburner certainly engaged in the idea of collector's items in the vein of Japan's Sabbat or Abigail (in fact, they've done a split release with the latter), so there's not a ton of value here if you're not the consummate completist.

The title track itself is a finely produced burst of energy with some solid riffing and incredibly vocals that hearken back to Incarnation of Evil, or more appropriately the early releases of Kreator, Destruction and Sodom, and this is certainly one of the band's better songs career-wide, but the other songs manage only to trail behind. "Only Blood Will Remain" and "Arrival of the Last Storm" are both decent (the latter also being released as a 7" EP single the following year), but "Raped in Ecstasy" wins the silver medal here with its wild vocals and more subtly entertaining guitars. The band have also included a cover of "Witchfinder General" from that band of the same name, dubbing it "Witchburner General". The old school NWOBHM/rock riffs stand as a stark contrast to the faster originals, but they do a bang-up job of mashing it into their own beast thanks to the vocals and great, groovy lead sequence.

German Thrashing War is well produced, even more so than Incarnation of Evil which seemed pretty inconsistent despite its superiority to their older records. The guitars are authentic, honest, and very bright in the mix, and the vocals are carnal and memorable. Unfortunately, the music isn't always the greatest, and apart from "Raped in Ecstasy" and "German Thrashing War" itself I can't think of much reason to spin it, even with the classy choice of covers. But if you're a die hard for the style of black/thrash that Witchburner espouses, enough that you tracked down and purchased all their other albums, then you should give it a listen or two and see if it's worth thinning the wallet.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

http://www.witchburner.de/

Witchburner - Incarnation of Evil (2001)

Come 2001, there may have been less of an immediate need for artists to come along and fill in the footprints of the German thrash legends, because all the important ones were active and once again performing the music we so loved in the first place. But bands like Witchburner, who were known for their worship of old Kreator, Sodom and dark US bands like Slayer or Possessed, also chose this time to step up their game, and Incarnation of Evil is a clear improvement over either Witchburner or Blasphemic Assault in both the songwriting and production categories, with a number of pieces here that stand to date as the most impressive of the band's whole career...

However, there is still some inconsistency plaguing the material, and several of the songs sound as if they were mixed separately. I love the seductive, evil intro to "Devils and Witches", and it's a pretty straight shot to mid 80s Kreator or Sodom, speedy muted guitar streams that do not unfortunately conjure up catchy riffs over Patrick Kremer's vocal splatter. "Nuclear Overkill" is better, but "Hexenhammer" just violates everything else on this album, a raw rush of reckless and relentless aggression that highlights simple and effective riffs and slathered, overbearing vocals that completely fucking dominate through their eccentricity. A few more songs like this, and we might have had a minor masterpiece on our hands, but the quality doesn't hold up. "War and Witchery" and "Execute Them all" are decent for a slower pace, and "Ultra Violence" and "View Beyond" provide a similar headbanging mania to "Hexenhammer", but it's only the closer "Metal Warriors" which has riffs just as good, and this is another of their career heights, though some might be put out by the cheese of the chorus.

All said though, Incarnation of Evil is the first Witchburner album that I can sit through in its entirety and enjoy, with only a few inklings of boredom. It might lack the decrepit, lo-fi appeal of its predecessors, but it maintains all of their charm, with the rasped and violent vocals and the 80s purity of the writing. If you're into the nostalgia of bands like Witchtrap and Nocturnal then this is not something to turn your nose from. Old school, ridiculous lyrics and song titles, leads ripping into abandon, blazing 'we don't give a fuck' guitar riffs and seriously awesome cover art ensure that the patch enameled, denim high hesher crowd will devour this in full, despite its inconsistencies.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.witchburner.de/

Witchburner - Blasphemic Assault (1998)

The devil was obviously satisfied with this German band's 1996 debut, pleased by the screams of the heathens sacrificed in the conflagration, and thus he bade Witchburner to continue their path of late 80s revelry. Blasphemic Assault is thus quite similar to the self-titled effort, only somewhat stronger in its production values. Not out to invent or innovate, simply out for a good time, the band continued to harness their immense infatuation with early Sodom, Kreator and Slayer to new heights. This sophomore doesn't necessarily slump, and it's better than its predecessor, but a few fiery volleys of frenzied passion later and the album begins to dip in value as it peters out into some admittedly poor riffs and lazy writing.

Tracks like "Kill", "Thrash Attack" and "Grave Desecrator", while offering nothing of intellectual discourse, at least satisfy the craving for tight, blackened thrash metal perfectly suited for wrist cutting with a sharpened pentagram pendant. There's not much more than a mash-up of Hell Awaits, Pleasure to Kill, Obsessed by Cruelty and Sentence of Death, sans the timeless guitars and vocals of those legendary establishments, but it's going somewhere fast and it might be worth it to get loaded and take that trip, neck brace included. Tracks like "Blasphemic Assault" itself and "Storm of Hate" hang on to the energy, but they feel rather muted by their obvious influences, and lack anything to really say (even the titles seem like they're just re-arranged from their influences). But once we come to what should be the album's climax in "Bestial Command", there's an enormously weak, generic bridge riff turn-off, and the rockin' "Raw Energy" does not fare much better.

That said, Blasphemic Assault might seem suitable for the 'good old boys' of the occult, raw 80s thrash sect. The mix here is clean but not highly polished, and I could go one way or the other with that, but there's a genuine love for the sound of the records the band idolizes, even stronger in the composition of the guitars. Compared to the debut, I found mildly more entertainment here, but nothing bordering on the enjoyment one would derive from superior death or black thrashers like Aura Noir, Bewitched and so on. In the end, Witchburner had merely laid another bloodied brick on the road to remembrance of a legendary caste of bands that remain so today.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

http://www.witchburner.de/

Witchburner - Witchburner (1996)

1996 might today seem like it was too early for bands to begin to wax nostalgic for sounds that perished only 5-6 years prior, but there was an explosion of black/thrash and death/thrash hybrids starting to take form, especially in Scandinavian countries. Witchburner was a German entry to this field, a band which sought nothing other than a chance to revisit their beloved influences (Kreator and Sodom in particular) with a slew of reasonably balanced tunes. You could certainly consider them a 'black/thrash' entry, though in reality this was what a band like Kreator were playing in the first place, with vocals more wretched and rasping than most contemporary thrash acts from both Europe and the states.

There's also a definitely streak of traditional NWOBHM inspiration running through this s/t debut. Once "Possessed by Hellfire" blazes its brief trail of perdition, little more than a Pleasure to Kill hopeful, without the raw explosion of grit and power, you run smack into the cautious clean guitars and Priest-like melodies of "Hammer of Destruction". However, these segments are in the minority, as much of Witchburner is comprised of simple, ballistic thrash without a trace of originality. "Darkness", "Hyrdocianic" and "Killed by Future" are all competent, but they seem like re-inventions of familiar properties by their German forebears. Some of the band's breakdown riffs (as in "Killed by Future") are plainly mediocre, and their speedier rhythms ("Fight to Be the Winner") forge less interesting patterns of notation than Destruction and Sodom, with "Witchburner" resting on the punk-driven laurels of the latter.

This all being said, Witchburner is not at all a bad listen. There's nothing catchy or special about any individual track, but on the whole it has this morbid, authentic feeling that would probably satisfy fans of the massive crop of bands that are performing like this nowadays. For fuck's sake, there are entire record label rosters in the 21st century which are stocked only with bands that delve into the nostalgia of early extreme metal. Witchburner do not impress here more than Swedish acts like Bewitched, Maze of Torment and the like, but I don't imagine anyone into the late 80s German black/thrash pioneers would frown too much listening to this.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://www.witchburner.de/