{"id":24231,"date":"2015-01-23T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T00:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=24231"},"modified":"2015-02-18T22:11:04","modified_gmt":"2015-02-18T22:11:04","slug":"album-review-stormwitch-season-of-the-witch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-stormwitch-season-of-the-witch\/","title":{"rendered":"STORMWITCH – Season Of The Witch (2015) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

STORMWITCH
Season Of The Witch<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nMassacre (2015)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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A creaking door and atmospheric piece of narration signals the beginning of the new full-length opus from German metal legends Stormwitch.<\/p>\n

This is the same bunch of oaken headbangers who terrified me with their fiery 1984 Walpurgis Night<\/em> debut. In fact, Stormwitch were such a volatile force in the 80s, churning out a total of five albums in the latter half of the decade, which is pretty staggering statistics when one considers just how good these records were. After that, the band ploughed on, releasing two more albums before dissolving in 1994, only to re-emerge from the shadows in 2002.<\/p>\n

In their second period of existence Stormwitch has thrown out a brace of records \u2013 2002\u2019s Dance With The Wolves<\/em> and 2004\u2019s Witchcraft<\/em> \u2013 but again there has been a space of inactivity for the quintet. However, Season Of The Witch<\/em> is very much proof that the stalwarts are still going strong. <\/p>\n

With original members Andy M\u00fcck (vocals) and J\u00fcrgen \u201cWanschi\u201d Wannenwetsch (bass) still steering the ship, the band now comes armed with three new members. The newest additions are guitarist Volker Schmietow and drummer Micha Kasper, who joined in 2013 and 2014 respectively, while axeman Ralf Stoney was recruited in 2010. <\/p>\n

So, Season Of The Witch<\/em> \u2013 although not as potent or atmospheric as its predecessors \u2013 is still very much a classy traditional heavy metal album that is steeped in Gothic melodies made all the more epic by Andy M\u00fcck\u2019s distinctive vocal croon.<\/p>\n

Stormwitch supplies the sort of mystical metal that was able to survive the 90s because it\u2019s the sort of well-orchestrated, precise and magical fluency extremely popular across Europe, and in a sense it has that timeless quality. I guess one could best describe Stormwitch as \u201cdark metal\u201d because there\u2019s always that feeling that each story is told like the unfolding yellowing pages of an old book.<\/p>\n

Rich in atmosphere and driving dynamics, the quintet powers its way through a progressive style of metal based around M\u00fcck\u2019s commanding presence. His tones are at one dark and brooding, and yet the next poetically subtle working in tandem with that fluent guitar sound \u2013 my only issues being that neither guitarist is authoritative enough in spite of some impressive solos.<\/p>\n

The riffs are very much a grey backdrop to the storytelling prowess of M\u00fcck with the opening \u2018Evil Spirit\u2019 acting as a rather tepid yet charming structure built upon that nice, sturdy drum sound. It\u2019s certainly worth noting that Stormwitch is rarely a heavyweight beast, mind. At its meatiest we get the chugging \u2018Taliesin\u2019 which is very much a gorgeous Gothic behemoth where M\u00fcck comes to the fore once again, but the track is soon stripped back to a stark plod of drum and guitar trickle.<\/p>\n

The band is at its most progressive with its forever meandering strains of \u2018Last Warrior\u2019 which features various shifts in pattern, while the truly melodious qualities of the act are showcased with the excellent title track which features a hasty drum, but again there\u2019s that breezy injection of enchanting harmony.<\/p>\n

Another track of note is the sublime sways of \u2018Runescape\u2019, which is a nice metallic ballad featuring soaring vocals and nice, nifty guitar sprawls. For those who seek staler heights, then I suggest you latch onto the driving \u2018At The End Of The World\u2019 and \u2018The Singer\u2019s Curse\u2019; the latter, one of two bonus tracks to be found on the album\u2019s digipak version. <\/p>\n

For the most part, Season Of The Witch<\/em> is a Goth-tinged platter of pleasantries and brooding swirls which never reveal themselves as anything more wicked than a Disney animated villain. At times I expected more from this composition, but that\u2019s probably due to the lack of overall weight. However, having said that, there\u2019s still enough charm and fantastical charisma here to lead us to safety from the dark woods.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STORMWITCHSeason Of The Witch Massacre (2015)Rating: 7\/10 A creaking door and atmospheric piece of narration signals the beginning of the new full-length opus from German metal legends Stormwitch. This is the same bunch of oaken headbangers who terrified me with their fiery 1984 Walpurgis Night debut. In fact, Stormwitch were such a volatile force in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1644],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-stormwitch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24231"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24240,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24231\/revisions\/24240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}