Album Review: Burning Witches - The Witch Of The North
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
Album number four from the Swiss outfit arrives hot on the heels of 2020’s ‘Dance with the Devil’, which arrived slap bang at the start of the pandemic. I’ll confess that I thought ‘Dance with the Devil’ was average. The songs were dull, the music routine and the double tracked vocals struck the wrong nerve. And that was a shame because I’d found their eponymous debut enjoyable.
‘The Witch of the North’ is an hour of classic metal, which occasionally strays into power metal country. This album sees the full-length debut of new guitarist Larissa Ernst, who played on 2020’s single ‘The Circle of Five’ along with the second release to feature singer Laura Guldemond, whose vocals I didn’t like at all on the previous release.
It’s worth stating at the start that Burning Witches know what they like when it comes to a heavy metal song. There’s limited variation within the tracks, but plenty of energy and enthusiasm which propels their songs into the consciousness. But they rarely hang there for long, and for me, it’s one of the weaknesses. They are excellent at what they do, the musicianship is solid with some quality lead guitar work, but the songs simply aren’t that memorable. Two play throughs left me blank, and the day after nothing had stuck in the memory, except for their robust cover of Savatage’s classic ‘Hall of the Mountain King’, which follows on from their previous covers of ‘Holy Diver’ and ‘Battle Hymns’ on earlier releases.
The production is crisp, as one would expect, given that V.O. Pulver was at the helm, and the vibe certainly heavier. The band are tight and as I already said, the playing impressive. There are epic pieces that demand fist pumping, plenty of opportunity to head bang and singalong and as heavy metal goes, it sits very much in the old school. There’s worship at the altar of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Dio and the like. And it certainly isn’t a bad record by any stretch. The biggest challenge these days is for a band to punch through the mediocrity that surrounds them. Burning Witches haven’t quite got there for me despite the big label backing and a good amount of hype. I have been wrong before and I’ll probably be wrong again. Take a listen and see what you think. For me, it doesn’t quite have the lapel grabbing drama that is needed these days in the world of metal.
