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Stormwitch - Witchcraft review



Reviewer:
9.4

26 users:
7.12
Band: Stormwitch
Album: Witchcraft
Release date: November 2004


01. The Sinister Child
02. As The Break Of This Day
03. Fallen From God
04. Frankenstein's Brother
05. Until The War Will End
06. Witchcraft
07. Sleeping Beauty
08. Puppet In A Play
09. The Kiss Of Death
10. Moonfleet
11. Salome
12. The Drinking Song
13. Blood Lies In My Hands [bonus] [feat. Martin Winkler]

German Stormwitch are ranked very high among the worlds Heavy Metal band, but they are still very unknown, and that's bewilder me. I mean, how can a band be ranked so high and be so good, and in the same time be so unknown? It's a mystery.

Are you among them that never heard Stormwitch, then you might have heard at least one song with them.
HammerFall did a cover on the song "Ravenlord" for their "Glory to the Brave" single in 1997.
Remember that one? Yes? Well, then you at least heard something from Stormwitch, even if it was a cover.
And for all of you that maybe followed Stormwitch in the past, you maybe thought that they were history by now. And you were almost right; they did disbanded for a while, but the singer Andy Mück felt that he wanted to resurrect the band again, and he did.

When Andy resurrected the band in 2002, no one of the others wanted to, so he got a new band together under the name Stormwitch and released an album ("Dance With the Witches"). Personally I didn't think that there would be anymore Stormwitch after that, because it's hard to live without so many of the older members.
But Andy succeeded to hold Stormwitch alive, and will now release the second album with the "new" Stormwitch. And believe me, I'm very grateful to Andy, because this is the best I heard with Stormwitch in a very long time.

"Witchcraft", as the album is named, contains almost only great, melodic and heavy stuff. Pretty amazing since the "debut/return album" was quite mediocre, if you ask me.
But this album is just brilliant; all of these sing-a-long tunes just makes me wanna hear the album again and again.

Songs like "Fallen from God" & "Witchcraft" is just fantastic, they are absolutely the best of the album, even if there aren't any really bad ones.
The child-choir in the end of "Fallen from God" gives me shivers, just like the chorus, superb song.
Superb, precisely as the production, is as good as it can be, and that makes the listening-experience even better.

Stormwitch got one thing that does 'em unique, and that's Andy Mück's voice. I think it would have been impossible for any other of the old members to start Stormwitch without Andy on vocals, but it wasn't impossible for Andy to start the band without them, because Andy are pretty much Stormwitch. His voice is so associated with Stormwitch that a future without him wouldn't be possible. Pretty much like James Hetfield are associated with Metallica, or James LaBrie for Dream Theater. Well, you get the point.

Let's sum up and end this review, shall we?
Stormwitch are releasing their second album since the resurrection in 2002, and it's the best they've released in many years.
The album is heavy but still very, very melodic and catchy, with songs like "Fallen from God" & "Witchcraft" as the top songs.
Can't be anything except a perfect gift to an old and new fan of real Heavy Metal.

Check Out: "Fallen from God" - Godlike, and "Witchcraft" in the first place. If you like them, buy the album for Christ sake.

Written by Malcolm | 13.11.2004





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