Album Review: Bewitcher - Spell Shock
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
The old school speed metal revival is showing no signs of slowing down despite an onslaught of bands and releases. So far in 2024 we have had killer albums from Midnight, Vulture, Hellbutcher, Bat and Wraith amongst others but now it is the turn of Portland trio Bewitcher to recapture that 80’s satanic metal attack with their fourth full length album “Spell Shock”.
As with the case with the vast majority of these younger bands paying a retro style of metal, there is nothing on “Spell Shock” that you haven’t heard before either back in the day or by the multitude of bands capturing that old school essence but Bewitcher just happen to do this very very well.
Much like previous album “Cursed Be Thy Kingdom” this album leans into traditional heavy metal territory at times such as on ‘Seasons Of Foul Harvest’ and ‘We DIe in Dust’ however the band drop in moments of speed metal sorcery such as album opener ‘Starfire Maelstrom’ and ‘The Harem Conspiracy’ whilst songs like ‘Out Against The Law’ and the title track mix the speed and old school heavy metal worship with added punk rock attitude and rock ‘n’ roll debauchery. The only deviation on the album is the short instrumental ‘Pagan Shadows’ with its Americana feel which leads into the fist pumping metal finale of ‘Ride Of The Iron Fox’.
The album is produced by Lars Frederiksen of Rancid and mixed by Chris Dugan who is known for his work with Green Day but don’t let that put you off as the album has a proper 80’s metal sound but done with 21st century tools and sounds utterly fantastic. The album was written after playing 130 shows in a row and that energy can be heard in both the material and the performances. The band also made a conscious effort to mix together all the elements from their previous three records meaning you get a well rounded mix of what makes Bewitcher tick. It’s another killer record from the band full of heavy metal ferocity, middle finger raising attitude and Satanic blasphemy.
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