Released by Nuclear Blast Records
Release Date: March 6th, 2020
Genre: Heavy Metal, Power Metal
Lineup:
Jeanine Grob – Bass
Lala Frischknecht – Drums
Romana Kalkuhl – Guitars
Sonia Nusselder – Guitars
Laura Guldemond – Vocals
Tracklist:
The Incantation
Lucid Nightmare
Dance With The Devil
Wings Of Steel
Six Feet Underground
Black Magic
Sea Of Lies
The Sisters Of Fate
Necronomicon
The Final Fight
Threefold Return
Battle Hymn
Swiss Heavy Metal group Burning Witches are back with their third studio release “Dance With The Devil”. The female quintet has been established as a team of highly talented musicians with their self-titled debut album and “Hexenhammer” of 2018. These ladies have shown they can compose solid old school metal songs inspired by legendary bands of the genre, but on the other hand, they have managed to keep some musical individuality.
Burning Witches have adopted a classic heavy sound enriched with power metal elements, but somehow they seem to have added more melodic parts to this new studio effort. The general idea of maintaining the same standards persists again, with a steady structure of heavy riffs, powerful singing, and harmonized guitars. This could be defined as what the record has to offer, even though a more careful approach to the details could show there is a small tendency to add something new to the basic recipe.
Moreover, there has been an important lineup change regarding the vocalist; luckily the new frontwoman Laura Guldemond dispatches an explosive and commanding presence throughout the twelve tracks of the record. Her style resembles the iconic singers of classic heavy metal, which makes her a pleasant surprise into the world dominated by growlers.
After a short track intro with “The Incantation”, the band strikes with “Lucid Nightmare”, a mixture of solid riffs, powerful drumming, and impressive vocal parts. This song fully represents the main image of the record. The following title track keeps the same structure, although the catchy chorus is the main element that gives the punchy feeling to the listener. “Wings Of Steel” is a tune that keeps on the same vibe, with the energy that comes from the influence of German thrash metal. The songs “Six Feet Underground” and “Sea Of Lies” follow the identical pattern in songwriting.
“Black Magic” is a ballad that adds some soul and emotion to the record: it starts off acoustic and slowly evolves to a heavier tone, showing a progressive structure. This album contains a hint of old school death metal in pieces like “Necronomicon”, mostly for what the guitar work is concerned. There are also some anthem based tracks like “Threefold Return” & “Battle Hymn” with the participation of guitarist Ross The Boss and Symphony X bassist Michael LePond at the second one. An important glam metal influence is easily noticed in “The Final Fight” & “The Sisters Of Fate”.
With this new release, Burning Witches have overcome the tricky passage of the third album and the vocalist change in the best way possible. The Swiss five-piece has made their best effort to date, building the new tracks on the solid basis of their previous two albums. Although there are minimal changes in comparison with their older material, many pleasant moments full of passion and energy could be identified among the tracks. Despite the lack of originality or innovation, “Dance With The Devil” could take place in the discography of a classic Heavy Metal fan. Even though music evolves constantly, sometimes returning to the roots of classic metal makes no harm. The female quintet from Switzerland has created a compact record for fans of the genre, a piece of metal to listen to in a carefree way. This album could not be suitable for any person that looks for experimentation in music.
Ratings: 7/10
Written by: Katerina Paisoglou
My Global Mind – Staff Writer
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