WITCHMASTER
Trucizna
Agonia 2009

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Oh yes - bestial blackened thrash metal from the Polish horde - just what I've been waiting for to cleanse my pussified power metal loving lugholes! Witchmaster consists of 4 members of well known Polish death and black warmachines who in their down time from their own bands, make an unholy racket under the Witchmaster moniker. This band has apparently been silent for 5 years but I guess you can only do your day job for so long before you need a break and hence this outing. This CD is stated as being recorded in London which raises a smirk of non-surprise as half of Warsaw is probably living in London at the moment so no great shock to see it was recorded here.

Anyway this music as expected is raw in your face black/thrash with little subtlety or room for niceties. These guys wanna rip your face off with their speeding evil thrash and this is what they do. However I must say the production is a touch politer than I was expecting. It's raw but not as supremely necro as it might have been. I think fans of this style of thrash like it as raw and filthy as possible and Witchmaster is perhaps a touch too clean for them even.

The musicianship is somewhat sloppy and messy with little thought given to instrumental panache but I guess that's the whole point of this style of metal. This is what you call the "heads down" approach to metal where they rip from song to song and worry about who's still standing at the end. Or the "rip your neck open and spit in the hole" mantra of evil metal if you will.

This album showcases a modicum of musical talent. It is perhaps metal at it's lowest common denominator -a base of raw thrashy guitars, throbbing bass, rampant drums and tortured voice thrown into a witch's cauldron and topped up with songs about the usual evil death doom and destruction. There are some quite cool midpaced chugging grooves here and there which break up the monotony of the speedy parts which I guess would go down well in a club if you've had enough bevvies by then but alas I am sitting here in my room, sober as a judge and I'm just not getting it.

This is definitely not my cup of tea and by the end of the disk I am glad it's all over. Maybe I am too weak of will and not METAL enough to get this and I can sort of understand if someone is of this opinion. I think the true spirit of metal definitely flows through the bones of these bestial Polish metal warlords, but alas they are not wowing me with amazing riffs or solos or catchy tunes on this platter. However if you like Slayer at a much sloppier and punkier level mixed with Mayhem/Darkthrone and US death metal stalwarts Incantation then try Witchmaster. I can imagine a different reviewer with more raging metal anger in his bones than I, throwing a 3.5 or even a 4 at this rampaging beast of a record but alas I am not that chap.

© Pirage Forsi
Rating ** (2.0/5.0)

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