BURNING WITCHES-Inquisition (Napalm Records)
Twelve songs are being captured on the new BURNING WITCHES album, worthy of almost fifty minutes of their most recent brew, that will get you in their spell right away. The artwork will add greatly to this. The witches seem to rise out of the ashes, surrounded by fire, snakes and knife blades, which urges you to have a listen to the album as loud as possible. On the back cover, you will find a white snake curling around the neck of a guitar. It's part of the inquisition, which happens next. The CD starts off with a short intro, called "Sanguini Hominum", which is merely a singing choir, before "Soul Eater" explodes from your speakers at full blast. It contains some powerful vocals and loud riffs and the guitar solos are being fired at you in a rhythm, your neck muscles have to work overtime. What a killer track! "Shame" is on next, which is very energetic and powerful and it feels like the witches are shouting out that you ought to be ashamed. It is part of their spell and you can't escape it. "The Spell Of The Skull" marches on right thereafter. And after a rather overwhelming start, this spell will put your mind at ease a little bit more. The song is firm and heavy, yet the pace is much slower. The actual "Inquisition" takes place after this. BURNING WITCHES will take over your life and they do it with a rather stunning force. Wild screams are accompanying this violent attack, which is completed by a hard drum beat and giving you a feeling that the earth is shaking. Clearly, it's even more ominous because of thunder and lightning part at the end. After that, your life will never be the same. "High Priestess Of The Night" is up next. This perfect headbanger also has some very catchy moments to sing along to. An icy high scream, a haunting rhythm and a stunning beat are part of the next attack, which is called "Burn In Hell". However, there is more to it than just the brutal riffs and loud shouting, because this spell is on you. The only thing that you want to happen is that you will get out of it. The ballad on this album reflects this feeling in "Release Me", which is a tender moment to take a deep breath. Of course your mind will directly go out to the guitar parts, which show some references to "Nothing Else Matters" of METALLICA. Anyway, that was your moment of rest and after that the band continues in their best JUDAS PRIEST tradition in the song "In For The Kill". The guitar solo will really blow you away, if you are not already down on the ground gasping for air. The high screams of Laura Guldenmond are very impressive here as well. "In The Eye Of The Storm" shows the band raging on and it has got an impressive instrumental part. There is some bad weather ahead. The CD closes with a fast PRIEST kind of headbanger, called "Mirror, Mirror". Be aware, because there are some thundering drums in here, more screaming vocals and some quite dazzling guitar riffs. Next to the PRIEST elements, you will also hear some IRON MAIDEN influences in the instrumental part near the end. "Malus Maga" is a very dark and ominous closing of an album that will creep up on you and keep you in its spell from the beginning until the very end. A great way to celebrate ten years of BURNING WITCHES, I must say. A decade in which the band has grown immensely to a headlining band status, that no one can go beyond. These ladies have been born to rock and they prove it on this sixth album. BURNING WITCHES is Lala Frischknecht on drums, Romana Kalkuhl on guitar, Jeanine Grob on bass, Courtney Cox on guitar and Laura Guldenmond on vocals. Don't get into their spell, these ladies are evil and they only want to eat your soul alive. Website: https://www.burningwitches.ch or https://www.facebook.com/burningwitches666.
[9 points] (Toine van Poorten)