This record took a while to really hit its stride, but it finally got there. BEWITCHER is a SoCal act kind of following in the footsteps of several “evil rocking metal” bands, and they didn’t strike me as anything too special in the first half of the album. After a bluesy intro of ‘Ashe’, they lead off with ‘Death Returns’, which sounds like a not so thrashy MIDNIGHT. Dirty rock meets heavy metal…it’s always a good formula, but pretty well worn. ‘Satanic Magick Attack’ sounds a lot like ‘2 Minutes To Midnight’ with different vocals and some minor tweaks… I’m not impressed. ‘Electric Phantoms’ and the more melodic ‘Mystifier’ are OK, but nothing outstanding.
From there, though, things start to spike upwards. The title track is some blistering speed metal in compact form that kicks the energy up. ‘Valley Of The Ravens’ takes the opposite tack and slows things down to a steady trudge yet it loses no effectiveness for all that, and the guitar soloing is outstanding. ‘Metal Burner’ is good, but the longer ‘The Widow’s Blade’ is a high mark, with some great riffs, lots of time changes and more of that hot lead work. That track shows what BEWITCHER is really capable of.
The album ends well with a punky, snarling ‘Sign Of The Wolf’ that has a terrific chorus and a whiff of DANZIG to it. What this band is trying to do has been done many times before, but when they get in full gear, like on the title track and ‘Widow’s Blade’, they are not to be messed with. BEWITCHER has time to grow.
Review By: Dr. Abner Mality
BEWITCHER
Cursed Be Thy Kingdom
Century Media
3.5 / 6