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Witchmaster have always incorporated punk and hardcore into their black metal. In the past, their approach has been rawer, occupying a middle ground between grindcore, d-beat, and thrash. On Trücizna (Ibex Moon, 2009), their first album in five years, they’ve opted for cleaner production and brought rock ‘n’ roll elements to the front.
Total AnnihilationTwo-Point Suicide
Yet the results don’t feel sanitary. The surf riff at the beginning of “Total Annihilation,” for example, is cool enough for sunglasses, but the feedback solo that chases it sounds desolate. Rock music is usually about community. Hearing desolation in a rock song is like staring at a half-demolished building. The vocals sound as if they’re belted through a megaphone, and offer no help. You’re born to lose.
Perversely, the same production also reveals how accomplished Witchmaster’s instrumentation is. Listen to how the drummer hacks up fills on “Two-Point Suicide.” He actually plays instead of just banging out rhythms. All the instruments are like that, and if you told me that cold, I’d expect to hate it. I can appreciate skillful playing in metal, but in punk I want grit. Here, grit and skill complement each other. It’s a combination rarely done this well, in any genre.
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Good stuff, fans of latter-day Entombed should be interested in this. The drummer is certainly the stand out feature, though.
All that clean production and rock stuff had me worried until the metal kicked in. Unlike Entombed, these guys still know how to play metal. Nice find!
Our band also has similar approach, I'd say.
Check us out:
http://www.thesyre.com
Mr. Syre's band is indeed worth checking out. You can hear clips here:
http://www.myspace.com/thesyre