Dance With The Devil

Very smart clean double vinyl housed in a nice gatefold cover. Includes hype sticker.

In metal, as in most things, old tricks prove to be the best ones, hence the ongoing revival of all things old school in said musical genre. With throngs of bands surging out of Europe, South America, and even the United States after a long period of metallic recession, it seems that a larger label like Nuclear Blast would be bound to get in on the craze after a decade or so of catering to modern mainstream sentiments. Among the more auspicious of their recent acquired acts is a highly dynamic and determined five-piece out of Switzerland dubbed Burning Witches, likely a moniker partially inspired by the famed debut album of original female-fronted and German purveyors of all things denim and leather Warlock. Then again, these Amazonian berserkers are far from a carbon copy of Doro’s former band, and have developed a sound that encompasses a highly diverse repertoire of classic outfits from the glory days of the 1980s that packs a punch intense enough to register on the Richter scale.

Being their third studio LP outing as a band, and the second as a member of the Nuclear Blast family, “Dance With The Devil” presents a sound the is both undeniably heavy in nature and largely German in demeanor. One wouldn’t be far off to recount the punchy grooves of Accept’s “Restless And Wild”, along with the modernized speed and fury of Judas Priest’s signature sound as interpreted by any one of Primal Fear’s more recent offerings, with the impact-based new classic “Rulebreaker” being at the top of said list. The exodus of original vocalist Seraina Telli has done little to blunt the sharpness of their sonic assault, as newly recruited banshee wailer Laura Guldemond (a newcomer to the scene known by some for her brief stint with Dutch symphonic power metal outfit Shadowrise) proves to be more than up for the task, ushering in an intensity factor that is fierce enough to rival Battle Beast’s Noora Louhimo on her best day.

Though largely being an example in back to basics heavy metal that largely eschews the keyboard-driven excesses of many modern European power metal bands, this album does come with a diverse array of influences. Following a dreary, occult-like atmospheric prelude somewhat indicative of early Crimson Glory in “The Incantation”, the haunting disquiet is shattered with a triumphant, speed-drenched anthem with a slight thrashing edge in “Lucid Nightmare”. The raw intensity of Guldemond’s vocal approach is accented with what could pass for death barks during the chorus segment, which when combined with an animated lead guitar presentation and monstrous level of heaviness gives things a slight Unleash The Archers character to the song. Similarly fast and ferocious offerings such as “Wings Of Steel” and “Sea Of Lies” have a comparably thrashing edge to them, while more groovy and melodic offerings such as “The Final Fight” and “The Sisters Of Fate” land closer to mainline power metal territory.