Review WITCHERY ‘Nightside’

Metal powerhouse Witchery will release their new album ‘Nightside’ on July 22. The quintet from Linköping, Sweden started their witch dance in 1997 and underlined it with seven very solid albums.
With Patrik Jensen and Richard Corpse two founding members are still active while the year 2016 brought a more drastic line-up change. Chris Barkensjö (d) and Angus Norder (v) joined Witchery and after bassist Sharlee D’Angelo left the band earlier this year, the Swedes found a good replacement in Victor Brandt.

This quintet worked on the new longplayer ‘Nightside’, which contains eleven songs. More precisely, there are nine new songs, which are complemented by two interludes. This is certainly a good decision, as tracks like ‘Er steht in Flammen’, with its eerie spoken word sequences, add depth and variety to the record.

Witchery take off immediately with ‘Witching Hour’. The song is a thumping opener that strikes right away. Norder’s husky voice gives the thrash metal oriented music directly a dark note and let witch dance begin.

With ‘Don’t Burn the Witch’ everything keeps on going and also here the blackened atmosphere unfolds its effectiveness immediately. In addition, there is a catchy chorus that is irresistible.

With ‘Popcrsuher’ and ‘Churchburner’ the Swedes also have compressive wrecking balls going. Here there is no long hesitation. Both songs hit the listener like a punch in the face and spread unbridled energy. The same goes for the furious ‘A Forest of Burning Coffins’ where Witchery gets support from Jeff Walker (Carcass). After such a high tempo, the title track follows as the complete opposite.

‘Nightside’ is a slow and doom metal inspired song. With the remaining heaviness, the track is a lotslower than the rest of the songs. Witchery manage with ‘ Nightside’ to put a real highlight at the end of the album. Impressive.

‘Nightside’, the album, impresses with a rich sound and striking songs. The longplayer doesn’t show any real weak point, can be listened to from start to finish and has enough potential for several play-throughs, where the listener discovers new details again and again. Horns up – in the truest sense.