In Praise of Witchery

Thanks to No Clean Singing and their Eye Catcher series, I had heard of Witchery, but my buddy John turned me on to them last night with a very simple phrase: "they remind me a lot Arch Enemy." It's been four years since they put out an album - although they have another one coming out this summer - so I'm a little behind on the game, but thus far I'm digging what I hear: its thrashy, it's got some death touches, and it's got enough variation to keep things interesting. The Arch Enemy comparison is apt - although Witchery isn't quite as melodic - not only because of the production, but because like the Amott brothers, these guys aren't above cribbing a line or two from the catalogs of others. "Cannonfodder," for example, has a few moments that are almost pure Slayer:



While the entrance to the bridge of "Stigmatized" could have come from the intro to "Am I Evil":



In other words, these guys make for a good rocking out time, but they're not out to break any boundaries. Sounds about right for a Friday afternoon, if you ask me.